'We had to prove it': Top-seeded CVU claims first boys basketball title

Ninety-nine came before them. But 100 was meant to be.

Champlain Valley entered the Division I boys basketball tournament having never won March’s final game in a century-long competition. Until the top-seeded Redhawks reversed history, denied Rice its four-peat and added a new banner in Hinesburg.

One that’s red and white, just like the others, but altogether different. This banner will read: Vermont State Boys Basketball Champions.

“We felt like we were the best team in the state. We had to prove it,” CVU guard Alex Provost said. “Going into this game we thought we were better than them, but we had to prove it. And we did.”

Champlain Valley (22-1) rallied in the third quarter to pilfer long-held championship riches from No. 2 Rice (18-4) 42-38 in the 100th D-I boys basketball championship on Saturday night at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gym.

“I’m elated for these guys, they deserve it so much,” 10-year CVU coach Mike Osborne said. “We talk about effort and attitude as kind of some of the core tenants, we keep it real simple, and the effort and attitude of these guys all year long has been as far beyond anything I could hope for.”

The Redhawks trailed by nine points after Rice’s Owen Eaton connected on an NBA-range trey and then followed with a fastbreak Euro-step finish to lead 31-22 with 3:50 left in the third quarter. To double-down on the troubles, Provost, the Redhawks’ primary point guard, was tagged for his third foul just nine seconds later.

“I came close to calling a timeout twice in a row with them and they made it happen,” Osborne said. “They made the plays to make it happen.”

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Provost, the Free Press’ football player of the year as a standout receiver for CVU, stayed in the game. And less than a minute later in tight defense, the senior came away with a steal and went coast-to-coast to curb Rice’s run at seven points. Provost (9 points) then added a deep 3-pointer to cut Rice’s lead to 31-27. Oliver Cheer and Tucker Tharpe added a pair of baskets in the paint as CVU knotted the game at 31-all entering the fourth quarter.

“They obviously went on a run, but during that run we missed some shots that unfortunately we were making during (the game) as well,” Rice coach Paul Pecor said. “We thought if we could push that maybe into double-digits, I think that maybe it would have been a different situation or outcome, but we just couldn’t get over that hump.”

Out of the intermission Tharpe connected on two free throws, giving CVU its first lead (33-31) since midway through the second quarter. Rice answered on Adam Bilodeau’s (team-high 11 points) corner triple to seize back the advantage in a game with nine lead changes.

But CVU didn’t relinquish the lead again. Provost found a streaking Logan Vaughan for a full-length feed. Then Kyle Eaton drove and dished to Vaughan in the right corner, the senior forward attacked the rim to find a cutting Cheer for an easy basket.

“I look down the floor and I just saw (Vaughan) back behind all the defenders, no one there close enough, so I just I channeled my inner quarterback and threw that thing,” Provost said.

Two possessions later, Tharpe swatted a Rice runner into the first row as the Green Knights were held scoreless for over seven minutes in the fourth frame.

"We were nervous, we knew that was going to be part of their plan being up," Pecor said of CVU controlling the clock. "Our thought was, what are we gonna do here, it's a one possession game but they have so many good ball handlers, they do that a lot." 

CVU went 7 of 9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter (16 of 19 for the game) to ice the contest.

“In the locker room we said to ourselves, we are the best team in the state, let’s go show everyone,” Kyle Eaton said.

Kyle Eaton finished with a game-high 19 points and his 13 in the first half kept CVU within a 22-19 deficit going into the intermission. The junior shot 60% (3 of 5) from beyond the arc and 10 of 12 at the stripe.

With the CVU girls basketball team beating St. Johnsbury for the title earlier this month, this was just the 10th time that the D-I basketball championship was swept by the same school.

The Redhawks finished 11 of 36 from the field, while Rice shot 29.1%.  This was the Green Knights 35th (18-17) overall title game, tying Burlington for most all-time.

“We knew that no matter what, we were walking out of here cutting that net down,” Provost said.

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Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau