Get In The Game: Lady Wildcats Too Much For Terriers

WESTMINSTER, VT. - The Bellows Falls Union High School girls' basketball team recently hosted the 10-1 Fall Mountain Wildcats and at 4-5, were probably not given much of a chance against the fast-breaking, hard-pressing Lady 'Cats.

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Photos by Joe Milliken 1. Fall Mountain sophomore Baily Robers drives to the basket 2. Bellows Falls' sophomore Emily DuFault looks for an opening under the basket 3. Wildcat sophomore Kayla Mooney looks to make a play 4. Terrier senior Kammie Crawford drives to the basket.

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But don't tell that to the Terriers, who worked hard and kept it fairly close for most of the game, before dropping a 47-31 decision to their cross-river rivals. At one point in the third quarter, Bellows Falls had managed to cut the deficit down to single digits at nine, but that would be as close as they could get in this one.

Coming in, Terrier coach Justin Aube knew his team would have to play a near flawless game to have a shot at the Wildcats. "They are very quick and move the ball well on offense, and they play a tough, pressing defense," coach Aube said before the game. "We've got to find a way to slow down their fast break and rebound the basketball if we want to have a shot."

Early on, the Lady Terriers tried to do just that, producing a couple steals from junior Corina Stack and senior Kammie Crawford, but back-to-back fast break lay ups from Wildcat senior Jenn Allen and a couple baskets from senior Jessica Zabielski and Fall Mountain was off and running. A stifling defense added to the surge and all of a sudden it was 14-4 after one quarter.

However, to the Lady Terriers credit, they bounced right back in the second quarter, switching to a zone-defense that slowed down the Fall Mountain fast break for a bit. After scoring just two points in the opening quarter, BF's Emily Dufault took matters into her own hands, taking it to the basket and effectively drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line. The sophomore went eight-for-eight from the charity stripe in the quarter.

Junior Enny Mustapha also started creating a presence in the paint, while sophomore Kya Coursen started breaking the press off the dribble, allowing the BF offense to flow better. And when junior Darion James hit a 3-point bomb at the buzzer, the Terriers had out-scored the Wildcats 16-9 in the quarter and trailed by only seven points at the half, 25-18.

Despite a second quarter that allowed the Terriers back into the game, the Lady Wildcats would have no more of it in the third quarter, out-scoring BF by 10 in the frame to re-gain a fairly comfortable lead headed into the fourth.

Emily DuFault would continued to drive to the basket and Terriers as a whole, continued to work hard, but the Lady Cats' simply had too much fire-power on this night, scoring on five consecutive possessions down the stretch for the 16-point win.

"We knew they were going to be tough and we hung in there and gave a good effort, but we just committed too many turnovers," coach Aube said after the game. "Our guards also got into early foul trouble, which made it harder to beat Fall Mountain's pressing defense. They are a good team and are well coached."

Fall Mountain's Jenn Allen led all scorers with 16 points, while Jess Zabielski pitched in with 14. Emily DuFault led the way for Bellows Falls with 12 points and six rebounds. At press time, the Wildcats moved to 11-1 on the season, while the Terriers dropped to 4-6.