Slaters beat Springfield to keep pace

While Fair Haven’s 44- 25 win over Springfield Thursday night was significant for the Slaters, it did little to break the logjam that is atop the Division II girls statewide rankings.

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Slaters beat Springfield to keep pace Rutland Herald | February 24, 2017 By POODY WALSH CORRESPONDENT SPRINGFIELD – While Fair Haven’s 44- 25 win over Springfield Thursday night was significant for the Slaters, it did little to break the logjam that is atop the Division II girls statewide rankings. Going into play Thursday night there were seven teams with four losses or less and Mount Abraham, which has six losses, was still in the hunt because its tough schedule was good enough to give them a rating that puts them in fifth place. The top four teams in the hunt were bunched so that a loss or two between now and when the regular season ends next Saturday could plummet a team down several places. And there are a bunch of key games that could be very critical. “Lots of team can win it,” said Fair Haven coach Kyle Wilson, whose team will defend its title in the impending tournament. “If you have a bad week you could finish sixth.” As of Thursday the top four teams and their wonloss record and Quality Points Ratings are as follows: 1. Mill River, 13-4, 3,824. 2. Lyndon, 14-2, 3.719. 3. Fair Haven, 14- 3, 3.706. 4. U-32, 12-4, 3.563. While the Fair Haven-at- Mill River game on Monday appears to be one of the more pivotal contests each of the four teams has games of consequence. In addition to Fair Haven, the Minutemen will have to also deal with 7- 10 Hartford and 6- 10 Otter Valley. Lyndon has four road games left, including games with 14-3 Lamoille and 12-4 U-32. Fair Haven also has a game with Windsor, Division III’s top team. The Slaters lost earlier in the season at Windsor, 36-31. U-32, which has won six in a row, also has Lamoille left on its schedule as well as Oxbow. “Youwanttohave meaningful games during the end of the regular season,” said Wilson. “It gets you ready for the tournament,” added Wilson whose Slaters defeated Mill River in the championship game. It took the Slaters awhile to figure things out against the 3-14 Cosmos Thursday night, but once junior Adriana Dalto found the range the Slaters took off. Fair Haven led just 19-11 in the third quarter when Dalto took over, dropping in back-to-back 3s to bring the lead to 25-11 and the Slaters were on their way. Dalto added another 3-pointer (she had four in the game) in the period as the Slaters took a 36-20 lead into the final quarter. “ Even when we were not clicking offensively we never took a play off defensively,” said Wilson. Junior Halle Coloutti was also a big part of the victory with 14 points. She had two 3-pointers. Springfield finishes the regular season with games at Windsor on Tuesday and at Hartford Thursday.