The Rice Girls Basketball team is the Division I Vermont state champion. Pictured above from left to right: Hailee Barron, Reagan Jewell, head coach Tim Rice, and Kylie Rice
In the Division I Girls Basketball championship game, #3 seeded Rice Memorial knocked off #5 seed CVU by a 45-36 score. The state title is the first for Rice Girls Basketball since 2001.
The Green Knights trailed 18-12 late in the second quarter. CVU had only allowed Rice to score five field goals in the first fifteen minutes of play. Rice then caught fire and went on a 10-0 in the final 58 seconds of the quarter, making all four of their attempts. Freshman Hailee Barron hit two three point baskets during the 10-0 mixed in with scores from Junior Ellen Boucher and Senior Reagan Jewell.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| (5) CVU | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 36 |
| (3) Rice | 7 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 45 |
Barron led all scorers with 15 points for Rice (19-5), including three three-pointers. Barron also pulled down seven rebounds. Boucher added 13 points for the Green Knights, including going six for eight from the free throw line. Senior Reagan Jewell finished with eight points and eight rebounds in her final high school game. Seven of Jewell’s rebounds came on the defensive end and she also led Rice with three steals in the game.
Rice girls celebrate their 45-36 win over CVU
In the second half, Rice’s defense took over. Rice shot 37.5% (6-16) in the second half while holding CVU to just 21.7% (5-23) shooting. With the lead, Rice was able to be deliberate on offense while focusing their energy on the defensive end of the ball.
“I came out and knew this game was going to be about defense and the offense would follow with it,” said Boucher. “My shooting was off early but I wouldn’t let myself get down. I got great passes all night—obviously I cannot do anything without my great teammates.”
“We wanted to come out as a team and prove we are the best in the state,” said Barron. “It feels good to prove to everyone that we are both great shooters and can play great defense.”
CVU finishes the season 17-7. Senior Carlee Evans led the Redhawks with 14 points. Shae Hulbert, also a senior, ended with six points and 13 rebounds for CVU. Amanda Kinneston finished with six points, six rebounds and five steals. CVU has lost their last five appearances in the championship game.
Check out more photos at Shane Bufano Photography.
Rice Division 1 State Champions Celebration Photos
Rice-CVU Girls Basketball Championship Game Photos Album
CVU
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Carlee Evans........ * 4-9 1-2 5-6 1 4 5 2 14 1 5 0 1 30
05 Shae Hulbert........ * 2-6 0-1 2-3 4 9 13 2 6 1 3 3 0 30
10 Amanda Kinneston.... * 2-19 0-7 2-2 3 3 6 3 6 1 3 1 5 31
15 Lazrin Schenck...... * 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 5 5 2 4 0 1 0 1 21
20 Elana Bayer-Pacht... * 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 18
01 Randi Evans......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
02 Sara Riordan........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 12
04 Emily Kinneston..... 2-3 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 9
12 Abbie Giles......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
13 Kathleen Leach...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 Sophia Lozon........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
22 Caroline Limanek.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 3 0 0 8
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 13-49 1-12 9-13 13 28 41 17 36 3 15 4 7 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-26 30.8% 2nd Half: 5-23 21.7% Game: 26.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-6 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 8.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 69.2% 2
Rice
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Ellen Boucher....... * 3-12 1-7 6-8 1 4 5 1 13 1 4 0 2 31
11 Katie Kowalski...... * 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 5 0 0 1 0 2 12
13 Hailee Barron....... * 5-13 3-7 2-2 2 5 7 3 15 3 4 1 2 29
14 Kylie Rice.......... * 2-7 2-6 0-0 2 3 5 0 6 2 2 0 1 31
15 Reagan Jewell....... * 4-9 0-2 0-6 1 7 8 2 8 3 3 0 3 30
05 Alaina Sarvak....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
22 Meghan Plant........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6
23 Emma Chicoine....... 0-2 0-0 1-4 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 9
32 Hannah Trieb........ 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 10
33 Paige Randall....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 15-48 6-22 9-20 11 25 36 13 45 10 14 2 11 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-32 28.1% 2nd Half: 6-16 37.5% Game: 31.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-16 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 9-18 50.0% Game: 45.0% 5
Officials: Jim Campanion, Chris McFarland, Mark Lambert
Technical fouls: #5 CVU-None. #3 Rice-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
#5 CVU........................ 8 10 8 10 - 36
#3 Rice....................... 7 15 10 13 - 45
Points in the paint-CVU 20,RICE 14. Points off turnovers-CVU 7,RICE 20.
2nd chance points-CVU 10,RICE 11. Fast break points-CVU 2,RICE 0.
Bench points-CVU 6,RICE 3. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-CVU 4th-01:28, RICE 4th-05:56.
Largest lead-CVU by 6 2nd-02:23, RICE by 14 4th-03:41.
CVU totally controlled the game until that Rice run right before halftime and then they never looked back. The run coincided with Jesus appearing in the Rice cheering section. Coincidence?
Too much athleticism on the Rice team and they never got rattled even when they were down. As soon as they got the lead at the end of the 2nd qtr and began cleaning up the boards – Game Over! Congratulations Rice. A great ending to a memorable season.
I dunno Mark. I didn’t see that “athletic” gap between the two teams like you did. I think if they played 10 times they’d end up 5-5 or even CVU would come out 6-4. Rice all year has been a very streaky shooting team. When they are on, they are tough to beat. Last night they had that streaky stretch of 3′s that led them to the win. That (outside shooting) WAS the difference, not “too much athleticism”.
I thought Rice moved the ball up court and passed the ball better than CVU and as soon as they cleaned up the boards on D, CVU really could not get back in it. CVU’s game seemed to be to try to out physical Rice last night, that’s where I thought Rice showed their advantage in athleticsim Paul, that’s all. As soon as Rice stopped their feet, that was really the only time I saw Rice struggle and give CVU a chance. Don’t know how you could speculate CVU would probably come out on top 6-4 if they played 10 times. In the championship game under the pressure when it counted the most, RIce looked like the better team for the second time out of 3 this year. It was a great run from the number 5 seed, just not enough. It was a great game to watch.
My speculation that they would split 5-5 in a 10 game series is based on a regular season split as well as last nights game. With a couple minutes left in the half and the score something like 19-12 CVU, it looked like there was a distinct possibility that CVU could run away with the game. Rice caught fire from outside and actually led at halftime…and the rest was history. But from what I saw CVU could more than hold their own and when you factor in CVU was missing one of their better players (injured in the semis) then I do think the two teams are very evenly matched.
i think rice came out a little nervous and CVU jumped on them and played really well without one of their better players. I do think Rice is the better team because they won this game by a fair margin. Rice would win about 6 or 7 out of ten because they do not just have two people who can shoot. Rice goes from point guard to power forward with shooters and has a rotation of three centers who work on the inside. CVU does play better defense but did not have the amount scorers Rice did.
More evidence of it being a “coin flip” kind of matchup would be that most people were picking CVU before the game.
All year all we heard about Rice (even from Rice people) was live by the 3, die by the 3. Last night they were hitting their outside shots and that led them to a championship (although against a banged up Redhawk team). Not so sure they are built around “3 Centers” as you describe but anyway…they won and they are the champs so this discussion is meaningless…