Adversity comes in all different forms, and the Terriers were face to face with it early in their contest against the Sharon Academy Phoenix on Monday evening when they trailed by 3 points midway through the first. Luckily, the senior-laden Terriers squad answered the call, exploiting their size and strength in dominating the offensive glass in the final three frames to take the 77-32 victory.
“I was nervous coming into the contest about how the boys would respond after I gave them the weekend off,” said Coach Evan Chadwick. “It’s amazing how fast rust can accumulate in this game, and the rust certainly showed its ugly face early.”
Jonathan Terry would get the Terriers off to a solid start with a finger-roll off a Colby Dearborn assist that had the Terriers take an early lead.
Sharon would respond with a 5-0 run on a corner three and a turnaround jumper, that gave them the lead 3 minutes into the contest. After Pat Barbour hit a free throw and then rebounded his own miss for another bucket, Sharon went on another 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 10-9.
The Terriers stretched the lead to five on a Walker James pull-up and had opportunities to extend the lead even further after Bellows Falls turned Sharon over on successive possessions. However, each of Bellows Falls’ fast break attempts resulted in turnovers that allowed Sharon to enter the second quarter trailing by just 5.
“We have to clean up those little things that will make a big difference,” stated Chadwick. I think our defensive intensity picked up in the second four minutes, but we couldn’t turn it into points.”
Seniors Jack Cravinho and Jackson Goodell pressed the BF advantage to eight on a Cravinho trey off a Goodell dish after he saved a loose ball.
The Terriers would then rattle off 20 straight points. Nystrom finished an and-1, Owen LaRoss handled a tough pass and finished inside in transition, and Jonathan Terry converted a reverse layup during the stretch, that saw the Terriers race out to a 36-10 advantage at half-time.
The Terriers cruised in the second half, expanding their lead to 30 early and never letting Sharon back to under the 30 point threshold the remainder of the game.
“We found our legs,” stated Chadwick. “When we do that, all five on the floor can score points in bunches.”
In total 11 players scored for the 7-2 Terriers, led by LaRoss with 13.
The purple and white face a huge challenge on Saturday, as 10-0 Rivendell travels to town. JV, who won their third game in a row on Monday and take a 3-1 record into the contest, tips at 1pm. Varsity follows at 2:30.
Bellows Falls Basketball 