GM boys drop road contest to Rebels 46-45

By Evan Chadwick
©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Boys’ varsity Coach Brian Rapanotti minced no words when commenting about his team’s 46-45 loss to Leland & Gray in the annual Leland & Gray Hoops for Hope game on Saturday in Townshend. “They (L&G) wanted it more.”

The Chieftains led for much of the contest, and were up 3 with under a minute remaining. However, some missed free throws allowed the Rebels to claw back. A GM foul with 1.8 seconds remaining put the Rebels to the line, where they hit both to take the lead.

The Chieftains would get one last chance at the victory but Branden Rose’s fall-away from the corner was offline.

“It was a fun game in a loud atmosphere,” said Rapanotti, whose squad dropped to 9-7 and currently sits 9th in the Division 3 standings. “Bottom line, Leland & Gray outplayed us and they deserved to win.”

Rose led the Chieftains with 16 points while Everett Mosher followed with 13.

GM will next be in action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17, when the boys look for some revenge against a strong White River Valley squad in Chester. The Wildcats narrowly defeated the Chieftains in South Royalton earlier in the season.