Cosmos boys are a gritty bunch

To the eye test, the Springfield Cosmos Boys basketball team is not a formidable bunch. They lack height.
http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/cosmos-boys-are-gritty-bunch

Cosmos Boys Are A Gritty Bunch Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 01/07/2014 - 3:14pm By Bill Murphy The Vermont Journal/ The Shopper SPRINGFIELD, VT -To the eye test, the Springfield Cosmos Boys basketball team is not a formidable bunch. They lack height, an important ingredient in the sport, and thanks to the schedule they play, most likely will not have a winning record, but after watching them play, they display some impressive traits, which should allow them to believe there are good days ahead for this unit. The Cosmos stand 2-4 on the season with their most recent loss coming in a Saturday afternoon rivalry game at Bellows Falls 49-37. The 37 points scored in that fourth loss is an important number. It is the third time, the Green and White have tallied less than 40 points in a game and of course, all three match-ups ended in defeat. In an interesting twist, Peter Peck's five, turned in their best offensive game of the year in their other loss, 60-52 to Twinfield in the opening round of the Green Mountain Holiday Tourney. Twinfield is a D-IV team, but Peck feels, "They have a legitimate shot at a state title." There were only two Cosmo players who scored over six points versus BF, but the early going has proven they have a number of offensive weapons and if one or two more, become consistent enough to put up numbers on a more regular basis, more wins will come their way. Peck likes this group and is looking forward to watching them develop. The point guard is Tanner Aberle (6/Sr). "He's our playmaker and can create a lot of offense," Peck notes. "We actually play four guards," the Cosmo coach notes continuing to describe his backcourt. Two other captains start and they are Alex Rumrill (5-6/Sr) and Devin Brady (5-9/Sr.). Peck refers to Rumrill as "our defensive stopper, he grinds guys out" and of Brady he mentions, "He's our best perimeter shooter and a good leader." In the BF game, Brady hit a couple of three pointers on his way to a 14-point performance. Brady also went for 13 in a 46-39 triumph over Green Mountain in the consolation game of the Holiday Tourney. Aberle, who only had 4 against BF, scored in double figures in four of the six games to date, including a season high 16 in the GM win. Aberle also had 13 in a 71-34 setback to always, tough Mount Anthony. The two remaining starters for Springfield are Ed Shambo (5-9/Jr) and their center Josh Rivers (6-2/Jr). Peck sees Shambo as "a good three point shooter" and of Rivers he remarks, "He's a high energy guy who finds his way around the rim." Rivers had his most productive game when the Cosmos met Oxbow for the second time. He threw in 19 points in a 46-31 win, which had the team on a two game winning streak heading into the BF game. First off from the bench for Peck is junior Justin Gomez (5-10) and Peck says, "He really gives us a lift, he's our leading scorer." The versatile athlete had 16 in the season opening 49-36 loss to Oxbow and had a season team high of 20 in the Twinfield contest. Senior Cameron Chiesa, the fourth captain is "a very vocal leader with a great attitude ," according to Peck and is joined off the pine by fellow seniors Dean Bactad (5-4), who Peck notes "brings depth to our defense," and Dillan Visscher (6-2), "who gives us good frontcourt depth." Four juniors round out the Cosmos roster. Chris Ficklin (5-6) gets the most playing time of this group and he in Peck's words "is a back-up point guard, who distributes the ball well." Joining Ficklin are three young men who Peck believes "will gain enough experience to hopefully be a valuable part of next years team," and they are Eric Kinney (5-10), Matt Graham (6) and Billy Roy (6). "This team has showed some potential early this season. The two Oxbow games show the two different teams we can be. A lot of it depends on how we decide to play offensively. If we just want to shoot threes and not find out, if we can get a better shot, it tends to not help us. When we were more patient in the second Oxbow game, we were more effective," Peck pointed out. The Cosmo coach went on to say, "We are looking for consistency. We have to play together and utilize our strengths. We have to play inside out consistently and I think we are headed in the right direction." They hosted Windsor on Tuesday night as this paper was spinning on the printers. - See more at: http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/cosmos-boys-are-gritty-bunch#sthash.XabN6Zpq.dpuf