Otters' offense plenty capable in win over Cosmos

Otter Valley coach Greg Hughes knows for his team to have some long-term success his Otters are going to somehow get away from its guard-oriented offense.

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Published January 8, 2017 in the Rutland Herald Otters’ offense plenty capable in win over Cosmos By POODY WALSH SPRINGFIELD – Otter Valley coach Greg Hughes knows for his team to have some long-term success his Otters are going to somehow get away from its guard-oriented offense. “We’re trying to balance the floor,” is the way he put it. At Springfield Saturday during Otter Valley’s 56-31 win over the Springfield Cosmos, the Otters got 15 points from senior Tyler Peterson, the club’s 6-foot-3 center, but the trio of guards, Chris Hopkins (10), Dylan Mackie (14) and Derek Aines (14) still combined for 38 of the team’s total. “We hope to get better at spreading out the scoring,” said Hughes. The win brought the Otters to 5-2 and with a comfortable lead most of the way they were able to work on some things that will carry them along in the second half of the season. “We’ve only got eight players, but we have to learn to play a little different,” Hughes said. Springfield, 0-6, showed some signs of juicing up the offense as it scored in the 50s the previous two games, but fell back into role that saw them score in the 30s during the first three games. “We can’t put the ball in the hole,” lamented Springfield coach Mike Ruppel. “We’re not going to win many games scoring 31 points. We got some good looks against their zone in the third period, but we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.” Ruppel also knows that coaches can only do some much when it comes to shooting the basketball. “Good shooting comes from not just taking shots in during the season, but shooting also during the off season. It’s just practice,” he said. While Otter Valley controlled the game from start to finish there were some rough spots as Springfield’s aggressive play on defense kept the game from being a blowout until late in the game. The Otters were ahead 15-7 after one and 28-13 at the break and eventually put the game away by taking a 42-20 lead into the final period. Certainly the Cosmos’ inability to put up big scoring numbers was a a factor, but the Otters’ defense will also have to take some credit as very few Springfield shots were taken without a hand in the way. Springfield got 14 points from junior Dakota Bushey and eight from slick ball-handler GJ Sherington. Both teams are home on Wednesday with Vergennes coming to Otter Valley and Brattleboro to Springfield. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20170108/SPORTS02/170109671