The Bucks of Blue Mountain Union High School defeated the Spartans of Winooski on February 17th.

The game began with a back and forth defensive battle with no baskets, resulting in a free throw for Blue Mountain, giving them the first point of the game. This picked up the momentum for the team and was shortly followed by a three-pointer.

Winooski senior Kiara Mack put the Spartans on the board with a two-point shot, shortening Blue Mountain’s lead, but Winooski struggles to put points on the board early in the first quarter as Blue Mountain makes several shots in a row, bringing their lead up to 13 to 2 halfway through the first.

Blue Mountain is quick on the rebound, keeping the Spartan’s scoring chances to a minimum. After a challenging first quarter for the Spartans, Blue Mountain comes out on top with a score of 21 to 2.

The second quarter started off with a strong offensive push from Blue Mountain. Jean Heintz scores the Spartan’s first basket of the second quarter bringing them up to four points, and Kiara Mack scores Winooski’s third basket of the game with three minutes left in the half, and completes a free throw for an extra point.

As the first half comes to an end, Blue Mountain Union maintains a 22 point lead over the Spartans with a halftime score of 29 to 7.

Kiara Mack scores another two-point shot for Winooski a minute into the third quarter, followed by another basket by Ruby Ly, bringing the Spartans up to 11 points while Blue Mountain remains at 29.

A Blue Mountain free throw puts 2 more points on the board, followed by a layup for two more, extending their lead to 33, and Ruby Ly scores another two pointer, bringing the Spartans up to 13.

Kiara Mack keeps up her scoring efforts with a few two-pointers, but Ruby Ly walks off the court with an apparent leg injury with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Blue Mountain finishes off the third quarter with a three point buzzer beater to make the score 41 to 17 going into the final quarter.

Kiara Mack starts off the 4th quarter with a 2 pointer bringing the Spartans to 19, and scuffles on the floor ensue, resulting in a foul on Stacie Truong who makes a free throw.

Blue Mountain maintains a 21 point lead over Winooski early in the fourth quarter, despite the Spartan’s best efforts to put points on the board. A series of well placed shots and some successful free throws bring Blue Mountain up to 48 points halfway through the fourth.

Blue Mountain’s offense makes a big push in the 4th quarter, extending their lead to a margin of 32 points with less than a minute to go, but Jean Heintz makes two free throws with 30 seconds left to bring Blue Mountain’s lead down to 30 points.

Blue Mountain defeated Winooski by a margin of 30 points with a final score of 54 to 24.

Coach Jeff Robinson talked about the effect that roster changes have had on his team as the season draws to a close.

“If I had my entire team it’d be a different story” said Robinson, “I’m missing two starters.”

Robinson is optimistic about his team’s future however, and feels that they have the potential to grow.

“We're a young team. I think they just grew as the season went on,” said Robinson. “They grew as a team, grew as players, and we've gotten better, you know, every single week.”

All photos by Mal Flynn.