So I know this is a little overdue, (been busy...sorry) but it was a great post-season for the Boys hoops scene. Rice won their 3rd title in the last 6 years. MVU brought their first ever Boys Basketball banner back to the "Thunder Dome". Winooski was a pleasant surprise in division III, and Twinfield capped off a perfect season going 24-0 beating a very good Danville team in front of the biggest crowd I ever remember seeing at the Barre Aud.
Now that the season is over, all the discussion around the state has been about the post-season awards. "Whos' POY? Who's making what All-State team? Chris McCormick didn't make North/South! Are you serious?"
To be honest, its only been a week or so, and I am already tired of hearing about All-Star awards, and accolades. There are an awful lot of good players, but yes believe it or not, some are actually a little better then others..that's just the facts. So I want to go ahead and get it out of the way, here are some of my post-season honors / predictions...(again all of this is just opinion)
POY (in each Division)
DI - Ben Ferrris (Essex)
DII - Matt St. Amour (MVU)
DIII- Jalen Miller (Winooski)
DIV - Chad Copeland (Twinfield)
Two of these (in my eyes) are no brainers. No one was even close in division 2 & 4. St. Amour should be in the discussion for the BFP "Mr. Basketball" and Copeland was an absolute moster all year. Both players had huge games on the big stage at the Aud.
St. Amour - 31 pts 7 reb. in the Semi vs. MSJ
Copeland - 32 pts , 17 red. and 6 blocks in Finals vs. Danville
Division 1 and 3 could have gone a few different ways. In D3 The big fella from Hazen Ryan Tatro was def in the conversation. D1 there are a few different guys that make good cases. Ultimately I think it comes down to Ben Ferris (who was recently named Gatorades' Player of the Year) and Rice's Austin Robinson. Robinson was consistent all year, and had huge games in the Playoffs. Both have solid resumes. BFA's Nick Swim, and Rutland Troy Davine could have also been in the conversation.
Here are my All-State teams
1st Team
Ben Ferris - Essex
Alex Snyder - Rutland
Matt St. Amour - Missisquoi
Evan Tullar - Spaulding
Austin Robinson - Rice
2nd Team
Nick Swim - BFA
Troy Davine- Rutland
Chad Copeland - Twinfield
Ryan Shea - U32
Jake Donnelly - CVU
3rd Team
Eric Suder - Mt. Mansfield
Clayton Palmer - MAU
Ryan Colutti - Fair Haven
Jalen Miller - Winooski
Chris McCormick - Rice
Honorable Mentions
Anthony Granai - Colchester, Casey Tipson- Rice, Ryan Tatro- Hazen, Ethan Brown - MMU, Ryan Lumsden - MVU, Lucas Dutil- Spaulding
BFP's Player of the Year (aka Vermont's Mr. Basketball)
Ben Ferris - Essex
Ben put up huge numbers with not a whole lot around him. You could see the significant difference in the Hornets when he was out with an injury. Essex managed to go on a serious run winning 8-10 games when He was healthy. Overall, top to bottom, hes the best player in the state. Good Student too! Ben will be heading to Tufts next season to play for the Jumbos! Austin Robinson, and Matt St. Amour both were in the conversation.
It will be interesting to see what happens next season. There was a ton of young talent in the state, who got serious minutes. Rice will return 4 of their top 6 players in Marcus Willingham, Casey Tipson, Jake Maynard and Tim Rensch. St. Amour will be back in the Blue and White next season with MVU, although it will certainly be interesting to see how he and the Thunderbirds (who loose 4 other starters) will do moving back up to division 1. The division 4 state champs, Twinfield only looses 1 bench player, and will return their entire starting 5 next season. Including Copeland, who already looks closer 6'7" then 6'6". Trojans 48-0????
Alright, AAU kicks off in about a week. It will certainly be interesting to watch this years Lone Wolf Athletics team...their roster is comprised of some of the best underclassmen in the state (many of the guys mentioned above). Here is this year LWA 17U Roster...
Jake Donnelly - CVU (prep year)
Matt St. Amour - MVU
Tre Hysell - Rutland
Chad Copeland - Twinfield
Eric Suder - MMU
Marcus Willingham - Rice
Jake Maynard - Rice
Anthony Granai - Colchester
Jake Bushee - Vergennes
Arlo Patterson - Montpelier
Josh Claflin - Hartford
LWA competes in some of the biggest out of state tournaments there is in New England, although you will be able to catch them in action at this years Vermont State Tournament at UVM May 13-15th
Have been waiting for this and was not disappointed. Very good look at the whole picture. Just a note, Lumsden is KYLE, not Ryan. Just want to give him credit. Thanks for some fun reading.
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