CHESTER- At times on Thursday night, it appeared an invisible lid had been placed on the Terrier basket. Enduring an initial 11-0 run by MSJ, the Terriers hung tough but, in the end, a lack of consistent offensive production resulted in a 55-37 loss to the D-2 powerhouse from Rutland.
“This one falls on me,” said Coach Evan Chadwick. “Simply put, I did not get our guys prepared enough to face a team like MSJ.” “Our effort was awesome, our execution was not.”
MSJ jumped out to the early lead thanks to 3 treys that had the Terriers call an early timeout. The Purple and White would respond with a 8-2 run to cut the lead to as few as 4 and at half, they trailed by just 8; 25-17.
The Mounties would extend the lead to start the third to as many as 18. However, the Terriers would continue to fight, clawing back to within 11 on several occasions. Eli Albee hit 2 baseline threes and added a mid-range and Cole Moore was a defensive force converting steals to easy layups. But, on this day, the Terriers simply could not hit the big shots when they needed them and MSJ was able to maintain their double digit margin on their way to winning the Green Mountain Holiday Trophy.
Albee and Walker James led the Terriers with 8 points a piece.
BF (1-1) will have nearly a week off as they prepare for their next contest on Wednesday, December 21, when they travel to Dorset to face off with Long Trail.
Bellows Falls Basketball 