Solons stunned by Tide comeback
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Spaulding's Lucas Dutil makes a layup over Montpelier's Corey Michaud during the second half of Tuesday's game at Montpelier. The Crimson Tide won, 65-64. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By RORY McEATHRON Correspondent - Published: December 16, 2009
MONTPELIER – As the clock wound down toward the finish of Tuesday's Montpelier-Spaulding boys basketball game, everyone in the Montpelier High School gym let their excitement show.
Everyone, that is, except for Crimson Tide junior Lucas Dutil.
With 18 seconds remaining, Dutil nailed a pair of foul shots to put Spaulding ahead 65-64. The lead would not be relinquished. The Crimson Tide, led by Codie Lawson (17 points) and Dutil (15 points, five rebounds), outscored a Montpelier team that made 10 3-pointers and led by 11 at the end of the first quarter.
With 55 seconds left in the game, Lawson was fouled and went to the free-throw stripe. Despite intense ribbing from the Solon faithful, Lawson was able to calmly knock down both shots.
"Our foul shooting was extremely clutch tonight," Spaulding coach Mike Mislak said. "Leo was huge, driving and shooting, and Codie played big and aggressive. Leo is one of those players who needs to step up and make a difference, and he couldn't have done a better job tonight."
Two plays after Lawson's clutch shots, Montpelier's Sean Dowling (11 points, 12 rebounds) grabbed an offensive rebound in the low post and laid it in to give Montpelier a 64-63 lead. On the following possession, Dutil drove through the middle of the lane and drew a shooting foul. His two shots gave Spaulding the barnburner victory.
The Solons doubled up the score on the Tide in the first quarter. After Dowling and Nate Smith (10 points, seven rebounds) snared rebounds, Smith found Corey Michaud (16 points) for a quick field goal. Two plays later, after Smith drained a short baseline jumper, teammate Aidan King (seven points, five rebounds) took the ball at the top of the key. He faked a pass to the right baseline and swung the ball to Michaud on the left side. Michaud caught the pass, pivoted and then drained the game's first 3-pointer.
"We knocked down our shots at the start," Montpelier coach Dave Nelson said. "They were playing man-to-man defense and we were able to find some holes. We were hitting all our long-range outside shots tonight, and that opened up the inside for us."
After a Montpelier free throw, Crimson Tide freshman Brooks Mayo whipped a bounce pass to Lawson, who was standing on the far sideline, well outside the 3-point arc. Without hesitation, Lawson squared to the basket and smoothly released the ball. It never hit the rim on its way through.
Montpelier senior captain Sam Brigham (14 points, six rebounds) nailed a jumper from the right elbow to put the Solons ahead 12-5, but Lawson countered with a second 3-pointer. Smith and King both tallied baskets for Montpelier before Spaulding scored again. Smith and Michaud each drained a 3-pointer before the first quarter expired to put Montpelier ahead 22-11.
"It was a rough first quarter," Mislak said. "They were extremely aggressive and we rushed all of our shots. We weren't patient with the ball and we forced it into spots where we shouldn't have. It took us a while to settle in, but then we played a better contest."
The Crimson Tide began the comeback at the start of the second quarter. After Michaud hit another long 3-pointer, Dutil scored on an acrobatic give-and-go from teammate Evan Tullar (11 points, five rebounds). The basket started a scoring drive for Spaulding, which proceeded to get points on the board from Tullar, Taylor English and Lawson before a missed shot.
Two plays later, Lawson and Tullar combined for what could be called the play of the game. Lawson grabbed the ball at half-court and lofted it toward the Spaulding basket. Tullar, who had been stationed in the far corner, streaked along the baseline, leapt into the air and grabbed the ball. Spinning past the rim, Tullar's two-handed, behind-the-head dunk pulled Spaulding within three points. The first half ended with Montpelier leading by two, 38-36.
"Our team knew that we could rebound," Lawson said. "We all tried to get to the basket, and when I was open I was able to get off some good shots. I'm really happy that I was able to help our team. Once we got the momentum going our way, we were really confident and played from the heart."
Tullar opened the Spaulding scoring in the third quarter. After a long Brigham 3-pointer, Tullar drove down through the key and kissed the ball off the glass. On the Crimson Tide's next possession, Bryan Hickey (11 points, 14 points) tallied a field goal to close the lead 43-42. Dutil proceeded to nail a short jump shot to give the Crimson Tide a one-point lead. The Tide continued to pull away throughout the third quarter, until Brigham nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut the lead to 53-50.
"We were a little flat-footed on defense at times tonight," Nelson said. "We broke down in the second quarter and had some trouble with communication and switching defenses. We didn't finish inside and just weren't strong enough today."
The teams swapped leads as the fourth quarter began, but neither pulled away significantly. After Brigham nailed a shot from the elbow and sank a pair of free throws, Dutil proceeded to hit four from the foul line to give the Tide the lead. Soon after, he drained the game-clincher.
"Leo was huge from the line tonight," Lawson said. "It was really exciting coming back against a strong program like Montpelier. That was a great team win and it showed us how to play with confidence."
Spaulding improves to 3-1 and hosts Vergennes on Thursday at 7 p.m. Montpelier falls to 1-2 and travels to Oxbow on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Spaulding 65, Montpelier 64
SPAULDING (65)
Blouin 0 1 0-0 3, Blake 0 0-0 0, Hickey 5 1-4 11, Carrier 2 2-4 6, English 1 0-0 2, Tullar 5 1-2 11, Lawson 3 3 2-2 17, Mayo 0 0-0 0, Dutil 4 7-7 15. Totals 20 4 13-19 65.
MONTPELIER (64)
Patterson 0 1 0-0 3, McKinstry 0 0-0 0, Brigham 2 2 4-4 14, Williams 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 3 0-1 10, M. Dowling 0 0-0 0, S. Dowling 3 5-13 11, King 2 3-5 7, Leene 0 0-0 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0, Michaud 2 4 0-1 16. Totals 11 10 12-24 64.
Spaulding 11 25 15 12 – 65
Montpelier 22 16 12 14 – 64
Three-pointers: S – Lawson 3, Blouin. M – Michaud 4, Smith 3, Brigham 2, Patterson. Fouled out: S – None. M – Brigham.