Jade Desroches: Can't-miss kid about to add to family's legacy

The first time I met Jade Desrochers was five years ago. I was helping coach the Enosburg girls basketball team at the time and was running a summer open gym.

I remember four or five kids showed up, most of whom I knew. There was one kid whom I did not know.

She was 4-foot-nothing. The ball seemed bigger than her.

I turned to one of the girls and asked: "Who invited the fourth grader?"

The girl stared at me with a look of disbelief.

"You don't know who that is? That's Jade Desroches," came the hushed reply, revealing in its tone a level of reverance that surprised me.

Five minutes later, I was in awe, too.

I've told this story so many times I'm sure I've added to the legend, but what I remember is this little wisp of a child walking over to the ball rack, bouncing the ball a couple of times, toeing the 3-point line, a little hop, followed by a big push from a slender right arm and ending with a delicate flick of the wrist. Swish.

Seconds later, from a little further back on the opposite side of the floor. Swish. And it continued. Little further back. Swish. 

I lost count after five straight as I was too busy picking my jaw up from off the floor.

I later learned that she was the cousin of Lindsey Larivee - who was heading into her sophomore season with the Hornets after a brilliant freshman campaign that ended with a state title. Larivee had a great shooting stroke, too.

But Desroches, even though she was heading into her eighth grade, was better (at least on that day) and I told her so. And I told her to tell Lindsey. The aghast look on her face told me she wasn't about to do that.

In hindsight, I learned a lot about Jade that day - that she's a quiet kid, but prideful. That she's a tremendously talented athlete, but humble. That she comes from a great basketball family, but she is now, as she was then, eager to make her own mark.

And tonight, with any luck, she will do just that when she becomes the fourth Enosburg girls basketball player - and fifth member of the Larose family - to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

To read more about Jade and her quest to reach 1,000, here's a link to a story I wrote on Examiner.com.

SHAWN CORROW, when he's not being very happy for a really nice kid from a fine family, is owner of Cold Hollow Photography and a freelance photo journalist. He maintains this blog, his photo website www.coldhollowphoto.com and you can follow him on Facebook (Shawn Corrow) and Twitter @scorrow or you can email him at shawn@coldhollowphoto.com

The best laid plans ...

For those looking for a fresh post tonight, I'm going to have to defer.

I occassionally work shifts designing sports pages at the Free Press and forgot that tonight was one of those shifts.

I might post after I get home around 1:30 a.m., but I may wait until later in the day.

For those who care about such things, I did upload the BFA girls hockey and MVU-Enosburg boys basketball photos, including a few JV shots.

My next assignment is Wednesday night when I cover MVU-Milton boys hockey for the Messenger.

Thanks for checking in!

BFA wins, MVU falls

Took in a little of the MVU and BFA girls basketball games Friday night.

If you want some details, here's a link to the Free Press capsules on the games.

A couple of thoughts on the games ...

First, at MVU it was nice to see former Enosburg star Christiane Brown, who coaches North Country, which defeated the T-Birds.

Brown said her best returning player is lost for the season with an ACL tear, suffered when she was inadvertently undercut in a preseason game. Another expected contributor is also sidelined, recovering from an ACL tear that occurred in soccer season.

These losses may hamstring the Falcons in the long run this season, but against the T-Birds the ladies from Newport performed well.

It was also nice to meet Jim Fuller, the hard-working sports editor for the Newport Daily Express. Travelling to MVU on a Friday nights shows some real dedication to his craft.

At BFA there was a surprising large crowd given there was hockey at "The Doc" (my new name for the Collins-Perley rink in honor of Henry 'Doc' Tulip).

It's clear from what little I saw - I bailed after the first quarter - I didn't bring a flash and it's near impossible to shoot in the BFA gym without one - that these teams are both struggling to find new identities after lots of recent success.

I spoke to BFA coach Glenn Johnson away from the gym a few days back and he told me it's a different job completely without the likes of Tiffany Johnson, Nicole Lawton and the Garica twins on the court. Still, he said he's enjoying the challenge this season brings and he thinks there's potential for incredible growth as the season progresses.

Speaking of Tiffany, she's getting some playing time - sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much - as a freshman for the national-ranked Franklin Pierce women's basketball team.

At some point, I'll try track down some links to websites to the college teams where I know some Franklin County kids are playing in college. If you know of someone playing in college you'd like me to add to the list, please add a comment to this post - it's gets emailed to me automatically.

That's all I got for now - have another poll to post before I head out to shoot at the start of the Enosburg-MVU boys basketball game and the BFA-Hanover girls hockey game.

MVU-BFA girls hockey update

An amazing game that was much closer than the score would indicate at the Collins-Perley rink tonight.

BFA came out with a 6-2 win, but the game was 2-1 BFA heading into the third period.

MVU tied the score early in the final period before BFA scored four quick goals, three of them on a 5-minute powerplay that changed the entire complexion of the game.

These two teams are clearly among the tops in the state and don't be surprised if they meet again deep in the playoffs ... possibly for the Division I title.

I just posted a 252-photo gallery on my website.

A little this and that, high school sports style

Just got back from the Enosburg-MVU girls basketball game in the 'Burg tonight (won by the Hornets, 50-40) and thought it was time to share some thoughts on the young season.

Starting with the game I saw tonight, it was mighty strange to see an Enosburg girls basketball game without Maria Gleason and Lindsey Larivee on the court. I had the pleasure of being an assistant coach their freshmen and sophomore years and covered a bunch of their games in their last two seasons.

I'm pleased to say both are off to good starts at their respective schools - Gleason at Johnson State and Larivee at Plattsburgh State. There has been no better two-some from the same class in the 'Burg and I doubt there ever will be.

I was pleased to see new Enosburg coach Gary Geddes pick up his first win - asuper nice guy and seems to really know his stuff.

I was also impressed with the MVU girls. They aren't going to wow teams with their finesse, but they sure do play hard and gave the Hornets a battle from start to finish.

Milton girls for real

Did you know the Milton girls basketball has nine seniors on it. Nine! They also have no juniors. None! I know it's early, but my guess is the Yellowjackets win it all. They have a ton of size, quickness and talent and coach Mike Lefebvre is good coach and an even better person.

I saw the 'Jackets open up against Harwood and it was 16-0 less than four minutes into the game. Ouch! Lefebvre then called off his press.

Everyone knows Brittaney Rice is a player, but the one I was most impressed with in that game was Kaitlin Geary. If she continues to light it up inside and out for Milton, then a trip to Barre is a given.

MVU boys hockey appears primed for great season

Of course, three games does not a season make, but I've gotten a couple of close-up looks at the MVU bosy hockey team this season and they seem like Division II contenders.

They have plenty of size, speed and skill and I love the approach coach Jason Brace brings to the table. Brace is brash, fun-loving and passionate about the sport and his team and his boys are reflecting that in their play on the ice.

They'll face a tough test Wednesday night at BFA, but regardless of that outcome they should ride the momentum of a stellar soccer campaign into a deep run in the D-II playoffs.

Speaking of campaigns, Brace will leave on a National Guard deployment next month in a stark reminder that for all the blessings we have in this wonderful country there is a price to be paid. Thank God for people like Brace and our other brave troops.

MVU boys hoops on the rise

Another great developing story out of MVU-land is the boys basketball team, which posted one it is most impressive wins in many a moon on Monday when it defeated Division I power Mount Mansfield in overtime.

I'll be shooting the start of the T-Birds' game with Enosburg on Saturday and I'm excited to see them in action. Same too, for the boys from the 'Burg. I'm sure new coach Steve Jette will have his Hornets ready to run with the high-flying T-Birds.

Same old BFA

I watched the first period of the BFA-St. Albans' girls hockey win over the Burlington Seahorses on Saturday and not surprisingly the Comets look very good. I had the pleasure of covering the first few seasons of BFA girls hockey and back then they had lots of depth, tons of talent and had incredibly dedicated and skilled coaching. Nearly 10 years later, nothing has changed.

Change is good

The BFA boys basketball team opened its season a week ago with a win over Colchester and I must say I didn't recognize the Bobwhites. Sure, ageless Kenny Fairchild still roams the sidelines, but who were those whirling dervishes running amok? Fairchild assured me these indeed were his Bobwhites, but given his team's make-up - lots of speed, little height - they are going to be running-and-gunning in the sweatbox otherwise known as the Academy gym this winter. He joked after the game that it's driving him nuts not being able to call plays and that sometimes the pace is too quick for his 'old' eyes to follow. Nice try Kenny. Any coach willing and able to adapt after all of these years is still at the top of his game.

One more thing ... watching Nick Swim run the point is worth the price of admission.