Fall Mountain Knocks Off Bellows Falls

WESTMINSTER - The Fall Mountain Regional High school boys' basketball team recently swept the season series with cross-river rivals Bellows Falls, beating the Terriers, 54-41, at Holland Gym in Westminster.

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Photos by Joe Milliken 1. Fall Mountain senior Tyler Gendron is surrounded by defenders 2. Bellows Falls' senior Michael Hall gets off a shot in the paint 3. BF junior Trevor Wilson drives baseline.

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The first time the two teams played a couple weeks ago, Fall Mountain had a lead and almost let it slip away, therefore, the Wildcats would not have another let-down this time around. In fact, Fall Mountain jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead before a Trevor Wilson jumper got broke the ice and got the Terriers on the board.

The BF offense would start to pick it up after a Kendrick Mills 3-pointer and a put- back in the paint from Michael Hall, but a steal and lay up from Tyler Gendron and a jumper from Sean Kelly to end the quarter, gave the Wildcats a 19-12 lead after one quarter.

The second quarter would be full of turnovers for both teams, but the Wildcats hit the glass more aggressively to create second-chance and foul shot opportunities to build a 12-point lead halfway through the stanza, but the Terriers made a run in the last two minues of the quarter to cut the lead back to eight points at the half, 27-19.

In the third quarter the Wildcats would stretch the lead again, as consecutive jumpers from Gendron, Kevin Plummer and Kaian Wilkes pushed the lead back to 14. To the Terriers' credit, however, BF kept working hard and after a Hall floater in the lane and Mills base line jumper, the lead was at 10 heading into the final quarter.

Another Mills steal and lay up, coupled with a technical foul called on a Wildcat player, and the Terriers were clawing their way back again and when Mills made another steal that produced a lay up, the lead was all of a sudden down to seven points. But that would be as close as the Terriers would get.

Halfway through the quarter, Fall Mountain would go on an eight-point run on baskets foul shots from Nick Burns, a base line drive by Gendron and a Ryan Bentley put-back to put the game out of reach in the final two minutes and a 54-41 win.

"I am happy with the way we played tonight," Fall Mountain coach Jason Bardis said after the game. "We got out to that early lead and we didn’t let go of it this time. We'd been giving up a lot of leads, but this time the boys sustained it for the entire game.

Senior Sean Kelly led the way for the Wildcats with 13 points, while Tyler Gendron and Kaian Wilkes pitched in with 11 and seven points respectively. For Bellows Falls, sophomore Kendrick Mills led all scorers with 20 points, while Michael Hall and Trevor Wilson added nine and eight points respectively. The win (at press time) put Fall Mountain at 7-6, while the Terriers dropped to 6-7.

"We just aren't playing consistent basketball, especially on the offensive end of the floor," BF coach Evan Chadwick said. "It's been a problem all season and it's starting to effect us now."