Williston Observer

Members of the Williston 9- and 10-year-old Little League All-star team, coaches and parents pose with Gov. Peter Shumlin at the Vermont Statehouse. (Observer courtesy photo)

By Matt Rushford

Special to the Observer

The Williston Little League 9- and 10-year-old All-star team was honored at the Vermont Statehouse recently for its 2012 Vermont State Championship and Williston’s first-ever representation of Vermont in the Eastern Regional 9- and 10-year-old Little League Championships.

The Vermont legislature passed an official resolution recognizing the achievements of the group of youngsters. The resolution was passed unanimously and will be recorded permanently in the archives of the Vermont State Senate.

The players and the coaches were invited to attend the voting of the resolution, had a guided tour of the state house and attended a personal meeting with Gov. Peter Shumlin.

Last summer, the Williston team blasted through the district tournament, allowing a total of only three runs in the entire tournament and outscoring its opponents 86-3. The team shut out defending champion South Burlington in consecutive finals matches to claim the division title.

In the state championship, Williston sealed its undefeated season by steamrolling Bennington and St. Albans in three straight games. At the Eastern tournament, Williston represented Vermont strongly, going 1-3, never losing by more than two runs, and taking ultimate regional champs Massachussetts into extra innings.

The Champlain Valley Union High boys basketball team gave it some umph Tuesday night in Barre, but fell in overtime to the sixth-seeded 14-7 Crimson Tide 50-48 in the opening round of the Division 1 playoffs.

Trailing by six points at the half, the 11th-seeded Redhawks got into overtime but bowed when Spaulding guard Evan Grubb canned a pair of  free throws with 24 seconds to go in the extra session.

Big 6-7 Marcus Thornton had 12 points for the Crimson Tide. Brad Bissonette led the 9-12 Redhawks with 19 points.

CVU won its final regular season game last Thursday in Newport, as Bissonette hit for 25 points in a 61-46 triumph at North Country Union.

Champlain Valley Union High alpine skiers looked ahead to the state boys and girls meets after placing second (boys) and fourth (girls) Tuesday in the Northern Vermont Athletic Council District slalom competition at Sugarbush Resort.

The boys were led by Ted Hadley in third place and Mark Deslauriers in fourth.

Emma Putre was the leading CVU girl finisher in third place.

—Mal Boright,Observer correspondent

The pairing for the Division 1 high school hockey playoffs will be finalized this week, but the Champlain Valley Union High boys hockey team took a solid step up Tuesday night with a 5-3 victory over visiting North Country Union at Cairns Arena to put a maker on the third seed.

The win gave the Redhawks a final regular season 13-4-3 record and left the Falcons at 14-5-1.

It was share the puck night for CVU as Brendan Gannon, Patrick Pattison, Jeremy Lerner, Kirk Fontana and Jack Hall all lit the lamp for the winners. Defenseman Alex Bulla paced the helpers with a pair of assists.

Greg Talbert made 17 stops in the CVU cage. The Hawks unlimbered 26 shots on the North Country goal.

The victory got CVU back on a positive track following Saturday’s 3-0 loss to South Burlington in the annual CSB Cup contest.

—Mal Boright, Observer staff