Randolph Boys Drop One
By Dave Cooch

The Boys Ghosts traveled to third-ranked Vergennes on Monday for a rescheduled game, and very nearly pulled out a victory.

The Ghosts faced a very tall squad from Vergennes who actually assured their victory from the three-point line.

Randolph came out the gate strong, and despite seeming to score more often than the Commodores, continued to find themselves down due to the amount of threes being hit by Vergennes.

Thomas Jacobs worked the offensive glass and posted up well to earn himself points early on, and Jon White comfortably hit mid-range jumpers and drove to the basket well to keep Randolph on pace with the opponent.

Randolph starting forward Jason Hicks was taken out in the first half with a finger dislocation, and was sent to the hospital. Despite the loss, the Ghosts continued to stay right on the heels of Vergennes, but found themselves down nine points 26-35, due to two late threes by the Commodores.

In the third quarter Randolph picked up their play and quickly closed the nine-point gap with continued scoring from Jacobs and White, as well an excellent performance of the bench by utility player Nik Bent, who replaced the injured Hicks, with 12 points.

Randolph’s success was largely in part to their rebounding, and their pushing the break, which continually caught the Commodores off guard. On the flip side, the three-point shooting of Vergennes kept them ahead of the Ghosts.

It wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter that Randolph finally took the lead The Ghosts were firing on all cylinders at that point. The lead was fleeting, however, as Vergennes scored on its next possession, and forced a stop against Randolph in the Ghosts’ next offensive chance.

In the final minutes, Vergennes was perfect from the line and Randolph was unable to regain the lead, losing 56-51. Thomas Jacobs finished with 17 points, and Jon White with 19.

The JV team lost as well.

Randolph will play a scheduled home game Friday against Montpelier, and a make-up game at home Saturday, with Lyndon. JV starts Saturday at 1 p.m., with varsity at 2:30 p.m.