Richford girls basketball, BFA-St. Albans girls hockey playoff numbers and notes

The Richford girls basketball team and BFA-St. Albans girls hockey teams continue their playoff pushes Saturday.

The ninth-seeded Rockets (10-11), who won their first playoff game since 2006 this week, travel to Hardwick to take on top-seeded Hazen (18-3) at 2 p.m.

Richford lost the lone regular season meeting, in Hardwick, 34-28.

Gabby Coons led the Rockets with 10 points in their 27-25 win over No. 8 Leland & Gray.

This is the third all-time playoff meeting between the schools.

In 1994, Hazen won 49-47 in the quarterfinals and in 1996, Richford won 58-33 in a playdown.

Richford is looking for its first trip to the Final Four since 1995 and its' 12th in school history. Richford last won a state title in 1992. The Rockets have three Division III titles and are 0-2 in Division IV title games.

Hazen is looking for its' first trip to the semifinals since 2002 and its first title since 1976. The Wildcats are 0-3 in Division III state tournament finals and 2-2 in Division II finals, all back in the 70s.

Hazen has an all-time playoff record of 32-30 and Richford is 37-37.

The top-seeded 16-3-2 BFA-St. Albans girls hockey team will host South Burlington-MMU at 7 p.m. at the CPSC rink.

BFA 9-2 in semifinals and 8-1 in title games.

The teams tied 1-1 in their first meeting and BFA won the rematch at home, 5-0.

Enosburg, BFA-St. Albans and BFA-Fairfax girls basketball quarterfinal numbers and notes

A trio of Franklin County girls basketball teams will attempt to reach their respective high school basketball semifinals with quarterfinal wins today (a fourth and a certain Division I girls hockey program of note are also still alive in their playoffs, but I'll post about them late tonight or tomorrow morning).

The only local team playing in the county are the third-seeded BFA-Fairfax girls (19-2) which hosts No. 6 Fair Haven (16-5) tonight at 7 p.m.

The Bullets are having a history-making season.

This season they have won their first Division II playoff game (their first playoff game in any division in nine years) and their 18-2 regular season mark is tied for the school record with a team back in 1981 which won the school's lone state title.

Fairfax is aiming for its first Final Four berth since 2003 and it's first state title game since 2000.

Chace Carpenter led the team with 25 points in their first playoff game, a 53-26 win over No. 14 Vergennes. Meghan Bochanski added 12 points. Kayla Baczewski has also averaged scoring in double figures this season for the defensively sound Bullets.

Fair Haven is seeking its seventh trip to the Final Four and third in four years. The Slaters have not won a state title (0-3 in title games) and their last appearance in one was in 2001.

Fair Haven won its first round playoff game 36-20 over Otter Valley. Bethany Lanfear had 10 points and Lindsey Marcy and Alexis Ellis had six points apiece.

The eighth-seeded BFA-St. Albans girls basketball team (12-9) take on top-seeded and undefeated CVU (21-0) tonight at 7 p.m. in Hinesburg.

The Comets won their opening playoff game 45-26 over Burr and Burton thanks to 10 points from Eva Clark and nine from Lauren Larose.

The Redhawks had a bye in the first round.

CVU won two regular season meetings 48-27 and 50-33.

This is the seventh all-time playoff meeting between the schools.

2012 - CVU 39, BFA 32 - Quarters

2010 - CVU 43, BFA 29 - Playdowns

2008 - CVU 53, BFA 45 - Semis

2007 - BFA 76, CVU 51 - Quarters

1996 - CVU 68, BFA 52 - Semis

1988 - BFA 56, CVU 40 - Playdowns

BFA is seeking its 16th trip to the Final Four and sixth trip to the finals. BFA has won a pair of state titles, the last of which came in 1994. Their last state title game was in 2009.

CVU is seeking its 17th trip to the Final Four and third straight. The Redhawks have lost to Rice in the last two state final games and have lost in the last six state championships in which it has played. Their last title came in 1987. CVU has won three state titles.

Back in Division III, the sixth-seeded Enosburg Hornets (15-6) will play at No. 3 Thetford (16-5) tonight at 7 p.m.

Enosburg has its' sights set on a seventh trip to the Final Four in eight seasons. The Hornets are 42-33 all time in the playoffs and lost in the state title game last year to Oxbow. Enosburg has been to the Final Four 16 times.

Enosburg has won three state titles, the last of which came in 2008.

McKenzie Gleason had 22 points and Chole Longe had 12 in a first-round playoff win for the Hornets over Oxbow.

Five of Enosburg's six losses are to teams in Division II and its one Division III loss was a one-point defeat to top-seeded Hazen.

Enosburg played a slew of close games down the stretch, going 5-2 in games decided by five points or less.

This is the fifth playoff meeting between the schools.

2000 - Thetford 56, Enosburg 46 - Playdowns

1999 - Enosburg 52, Thetford 49 - Quarters

1985 - Enosburg 43, Thetford 42 - Quarters

1980 - Thetford 39, Enosburg 38 - Quarters

Thetford has never won a state title (0-3) in state title games and is looking for its second straight trip to the Final Four.

The Panthers last reached the title game in 2005 and a win would give them their 11 appearance in the Final Four.

Shayann Josler had 21 points and nine assists and Michaela Pomeroy scored 14 points in a first-round 51-30 playoff win over No. 14 Northfield.

SHAWN CORROW, who should really find better ways to spend rare sunny March days than writing on his blog, is the owner of Cold Hollow Photography, a freelance sports journalist and addicted to Storage Wars and Seinfield.

Franklin County hockey quarterfinal numbers and notes

The girls hockey state tournament resumes play Tuesday night with a pair games.

The top-seeded BFA-St. Albans girls (15-3-2) host No. 9 CVU (1-19-1) at 5 p.m. at the Collins-Perley rink. NOTE - According to FB friend Maura Hemingway, this game has been switched to 7:30 p.m.

This is the fifth time the schools have met in the playoffs with the Comets (who sport a 27-3 all-time playoff record) have won all four previous meetings by an aggregate score of 20-4.

2012 - BFA 4, CVU 0 - Quarters

2010 - BFA 6, CVU 3 - Semifinals

2009 - BFA 5, CVU 0 - Quarters

2006 - BFA 5, CVU 1 - Semifinals

BFA won the two regular-season meetings this season 7-0 and 9-0.

BFA is 10-0 all-time in semifinal games, 9-2 in semifinals and 8-1 in title games.

This season the Comets are led offensively by Dani Schriener (21 goals, five assists, 26 points), Jade Remillard (9-14-23), Aliza Ellis (5-12-17), Chelsea Ellis (9-7-16) and Morgan Lamos (1-14-15). Shanley Howrigan's save percentage is greater than her goals against average (0.941 goals per game average; 0.950 save percentage). She has four individual shutouts and two shared shutouts.

BFA has outscored opponents 77-19 this season.

At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, sixth-seeded MVU (10-8-2) goes to take on No. 3 Essex (12-5-3).

The teams have met in the playoffs just once, last season with the Hornets winning 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

MVU tied Essex 3-3 at Essex and lost 2-1 at home. All five goals Essex goals were scored on the powerplay.

MVU has a 11-10 overall playoff record, 0-3 in Division I, but in those three losses, two are by one goal and one is by two.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m., the seventh-seeded BFA- St. Albans boys will travel to Essex to take on the second-seeded 16-2-2 Hornets.

These two teams are the most storied programs in Vermont high school hockey history with a combined 29 state titles.

BFA is the defending champion and will try to improve on a 27-6 all-time mark in Division I quarterfinals. BFA is also seeking it's 70th all-time playoff wins against 25 defeats.

Essex is 22-5 all-time in the quarterinals and has not in that round of the playoffs since 1998.

Essex won the two regular-season meetings 4-1 and 2-1 and the Hornets hold a 10-6 all-time edge in the playoffs.

2010 - BFA 3, Essex 2 - Quarterfinals

2009 - Essex 2, BFA 1 - Semifinals

2006 - Essex 5, BFA 1 - Finals

2003 - BFA 3, Essex 2 - Finals

2002 - Essex 3, BFA 1 - Quarterfinals

2000 - Essex 3, BFA 1 - Semifinals

1993 - Essex 2, BFA 1 - Semifinals

1992 - Essex 3, BFA 2 (OT) - Finals

1991 - BFA 5, Essex 4 (OT) - Semifinals - thanks Tayt Brooks for adding this info: BFA scored three times in the final three minutes to tie the score and went on to beat BHS in the finals, 5-3.

1989 - Essex 4, BFA 1 - Finals

1988 - BFA 1, Essex  (OT) - Quarterfinals

1986 - Essex 7, BFA 3 - Semifinals

1984 - Essex 8, BFA 4 - Finals

1983 - BFA 3, Essex 2 (OT) - Finals

1981 - Essex 5, BFA 3 - Quarterfinals

1978 - BFA 4, Essex 3 - Semifinals

Boys basketball, hockey quaterfinal preview notes

As I prepare to head to Vergennes for the third straight year to cover the VPA high school cheer championships, my mind wandered to the five local teams also competing in the postseason today.

As local fans arise and take their morning coffee, here's some numbers to go with your Cheerioes before you embark on another day of March Madness, Franklin County style.

With apologies to the three local teams competing in the basketball quarterfinals, I'll start with the lone game that pits two Franklin County schools and the only one being played close to home.

At 4:30 today at the Collins-Perley Sports and Fitness Center Rink (Isn't about time we renamed this the rink after one of the local luminaries who helped build Hockeytown? But, as usual, I digress.) the 10th-seeded MVU T-Birds (5-14-1) visit No. 7 BFA (9-9-2).

BFA swept the season series, but the past playoff meetings between these long-time rivals have been pretty fairly split, although it's been a dozen years since the schools have met in the playoffs.

Here's the past tournament results.

1974 - BFA 7, MVU 2 - Quarterfinals

1985 - MVU 4, BFA 2 - Quarterfinals

1993 - BFA 3, MVU 0 - Quarterfinals

1998 - BFA 9, MVU 0 - Quarterfinals

1999 - BFA 10, MVU 0 - Quarterfinals

2001 - MVU 4, BFA 2 - Quarterfinals

BFA is 68-25 overall in the Division I playoffs - 1-0 in playdown games, 41-19 in quarterfinals, 24-11 in semifinals and 16-8 in finals.

MVU is 12-33 overall in the Division I and II playoffs combined - 8-30 in Division I with a 2-3 record in semifinals and 0-2 in finals; 4-3 overall in D-II playoffs, 1-0 in semis and 1-0 in finals.

In Division I basketball, MVU also is competing in the quarterfinals which in and of itself a notable accomplishment.

The Thunderbirds, seeded #9 with a 13-8 record, travel to St. Johnsbury to face the top-seeded and undefeated Hilltoppers (21-0) at 2 p.m.

This is just the second time in school history the T-Birds have advanced to the Division I quarterfinals.

Back in 1986, MVU defeated CVU in the playdown round 70-53 before falling to - coincidentally St. Johnsbury - 64-62 in the quarterfinals. MVU's only other Division I playoff win before this week's win at BFA was in 1980 when the T-Birds defeated Middlebury in a play-in game, 51-44.

MVU is now 10-31 all-time in boys basketball playoff action with a 3-29 mark in Division I and a 7-2 mark in Division II.

Turning your attention to Division III, if you want to win a bet on the way to the game today ask someone to guess how many boys basketball titles the BFA-Fairfax and Enosburg schools have combined to win in their long histories. The answer, incredibly, is none. When you think back on all the truly great teams - in the distant past and recent past - there have been at these schools it's astonishing to think they are a combined oh-fer-forever in title games.

That could change this year, but each team faces a long bus ride to face a relatively unfamiliar foe.

The fifth-seeded Hornets (15-6) travel to take on No. 4 Rivendell (17-4) at 2 p.m. in Orford, N.H. Yes, New Hampshire. Evidently at some point Vermont traded Canaan to New Hamsphire and in return we got a elven enclave. (OK, I'm joking, I think. Having never been to Rivendell (do you pass through The Shire to get there) I have no idea. OK, done with my nerdy Lord of the Rings references ... maybe.)

The schools have met twice in the playoffs with the Raptors (how this team is not named the Elves astounds me) winning 49-41 in the playdown round and Enosburg taking a 80-74 playdown win in 2003.

Enosburg is 28-36 in its combined Division II and III playoff history. The Hornets are 25-28 in the D-III playoffs with a 5-5 record in the semifinals and 0-5 mark in the finals. The Hornets are 3-8 in the Division II tournament (which they will play in again starting next season) and they are 0-1 in their lone D-II semifinal appearance.

The BFA-Fairfax Bullets are the No. 6 seed for the third straight year and sport a 15-6 mark headed into today's 2 p.m. quarterfinals game at No. 3 Leland & Gray (16-5).

What's a Leland & Gray and where is it? The second part of the question is Townshend - I know that doesn't help much - but alledgedly it is in Vermont somewhere, more precisely Windham County. Again, I've never been to either of those places, so it could be a internet hoax. Here are the directions from the school's website.

Here's a little more about the school you might want to know ... or not.

From the school's website: Townshend is situated in the southeastern corner of VT, approximately 20 miles northwest of Brattleboro. Townshend and the towns of Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, and Windham comprise the union high school district. The total student population of Windham Central Supervisory Union is 884. (2009)

But what of the name? The school was founded in 1833 by a minister named Leland and 27 years later a deacon named Gray pumped a bunch of money into it to keep it a float (I am paraphrasing from info on the school's website) and the school was renamed for both men. Of course, being founded as a seminary by religious patrons, the school adopted a Rebel as a mascot. OK, I'm being saracastic. I mean, how are they not the Deacons? At any rate, for my money the school's real claim to fame is it's the only school in Vermont with an ampersand in it's official name. Burr and Burton uses the word, not the symbol. Why I know this, I have no idea.

OK, assuming you didn't leave me four paragraphs ago, here's what you need to know about BFA-Fairfax's playoff history with and their meeting with the ill-named Rebels.

BFA-Fairfax, as I wrote 10 minutes ago, is the sixth seed for the third straight year. This is notable because the last two years, they lost in the first round, but this year - ostensibly to shake things up - most of the team shaved their heads into mohawks. It worked as the Bullets avenged a 2012 playdown loss to Windsor and advanced to today's quarterfinals where, with a win, they will advance to their third Final Four in five years.

This is the fourth meeting between the schools in the playoffs. If the scores of the first three are any indication, the winning team will score either 74 or 76 points and the losing team will score either 64 or 69.

How do I know this? Here's their past scores.

1977 - L&G 76, Fairfax 64 - Quarterfinals

1995 - L&G 74, Fairfax 69 - Playdowns

2004 - Fairfax 76, L&G 69 - Playdowns

Fairfax has a 30-48 record all-time in the playoffs; 29-44 in Division III, including a 3-7 record in the semifinals and 0-3 in the finals. The Bullets are 1-4 in D-II playoffs.

Good luck to all teams competing in the postseason today, including the BFA-St. Albans and BFA-Fairfax cheerleading squads which will be competing for the state championship today in Vergennes at 4 p.m. BFA-Fairfax, the two-time defending D-II champs, will compete in Division I this year, as will the BFA-St. Albans cheer teams.

BFA-St. Albans-St. Johnsbury softball semifinals game notes

I will be covering the BFA-St. Albans-St. Johnsbury Division I softball semifinal for the Free Press and NSNsports.net this afternoon and did a little research on the game.

This is the third time BFA and St. Jay have meet in the D-I semifinals. BFA won 8-1 in 2002. This was the last time St. Jay made the semis. The Hilltoppers have a 1-5 all-time record in the Division I semifinals. The one time they won was back in 1978, an 11-8 win over the Comets. St. Jay went on to lose in the finals, 4-3, to Brattleboro.

The Hilltoppers are 4-1 all-time in Division II semis and are 2-2 in Division II title games. St. Johnsbury has been a D-I school since 1988. The 'Toppers are 29-34 in the playoffs all-time and 17-30 in Division I.

St. Johnsbury is 15-2 this season, with one-run losses to Essex (3-2) and BFA (2-1 on May 13 in St. Albans). The Hilltoppers are seeded fourth and advanced to the semis with a 21-0 win over South Burlington and a 4-3 win in eight innings over Mount Mansfield. St. Johnsbury has outscored opponents 205-47 this season.

BFA, the top seed, is 16-0 this season and has outscored opponents 155-16. The Comets, who are on track for their fifth undefeated season in program history, advanced to the semis with a 9-1 win over Rutland.

The Comets ended the regular season with three straight shutout wins and six overall. They have allowed a season-high of three runs three times. In 13 games, they have allowed one run or less.

BFA ended a streak of three straight seasons with out reaching the semifinals this year, it's longest drought of that length since 1985-88. BFA's last title game appearance was in 2007, a 6-2 loss to Essex. It's last win was 1-0 over Essex in the 2006 final. This win capped back-to-back undefeated seasons.

BFA is 12-7 all-time in the semifinals and 7-5 in title games. The Comets are 62-27 all-time in the playoffs.

The last time the Comets did not have a winning record was back in 1987.

Heading into the year's playoffs, the Comets ranked second all-time in softball playoff wins (61) and tied for second in titles won (seven).

Here's the Top 10, all divisions, ranked by number of wins (titles)

1. Brattleboro 72 (9)

2. BFA-St. Albans 61 (7)

3. Peoples Academy 59 (9)

4. Canaan 47 (7)

5. Enosburg 46 (5)

6. Essex 43 (5)

7. Missisquoi Valley 43 (3)

8. Thetford 42 (4)

9. Lamoille 42 (2)

10. Randolph 40 (6)