Eagles Slip by Woodstock in First Round of Playoffs
By Chris LaFoy
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Boys high school basketball playoffs have begun this week and fans will be hard- pressed to find a better game than the one they witnessed Wednesday, March 1st, at Mount Abraham. The number six seed Mt. Abe Eagles hosted the number eleven seed Woodstock Wasps in the first round of the postseason, but the game could have passed for the finals.
The game started with the Wasps jumping out to a 13-5 lead over the Eagles, partly due to their superb three-point shooting. Although the Eagles were down early, they would not stay there for long. For over seven minutes, from the end of the first quarter to the opening minutes of the second, the Eagles held the Wasps scoreless, resulting in a 13-0 run. The half came to a close with a score of Eagles-25, Wasps-20.
The game was physical from the start and for the most part the referees let them play without slowing them down with unnecessary fouls. Although Woodstock is not the biggest team Mt. Abe has faced, it was the toughest, hardest fought game I have seen the Eagles play yet.
The fourth quarter of this game would rival the quality and intensity of any professional or collegiate game. More than once the referees tried to stop the play but the players continued due to the fact they couldn't hear the whistle. The crowd was loud during the first three quarters, but they were deafening during the last.
The Eagles stayed ahead of the Wasps for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, but not by far. With two minutes to go the Wasps tied the game at 55, and with only 57.7 seconds left in the game the Wasps took the lead by two. The Eagles tied the game back up but the Wasps had possession with ten seconds left. The Eagles forced a bad shot and most of the crowd thought the game was going to overtime, but Jordan Estey and Kevin Labas had other plans.
The ball popped out of a group of rebounding players after the miss by Woodstock. The ball landed in Estey's hands and he had an open court with about three seconds left. As Coach Leggett told me after the game Estey “pulled the trigger a little early” and fired a long three pointer with about a second and a half left. The shot missed but Kevin Labas never stopped running from half court and caught the offensive rebound. He shot up on of the ugliest lay-ups of the game but it rolled in as the buzzer sounded. Mt. Abe won 62-60.
The crowd, non of whom left early, went absolutely crazy and the student section rushed the court. Kevin Labas, who had a break out game with 9 points, was the hero of the night and was raised up on the shoulders of the fans. Mount Abraham will play in the second round on Saturday, March 4th in Vergennes. Both of the games against the Commodores have been extremely tight, one decided by only one point and the other by four, and this game will be no exception.