Montpelier boys basketball tops No. 1 Hartford, tracks down D-II four-peat

BARRE - Kleo Bridge poured in a 3-pointer. Then teammate Carson Cody drained a pair of 3s. Montpelier's offense began to roll. And its defense took care of the rest.

A mesmerizing second-quarter run sparked No. 2 Montpelier to maintain its dynasty while denying top-seeded Hartford a chance at history in the Solons' 58-49 victory during the Division II high school boys basketball state championship game at Barre Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

Cody struck for 12 of his game-high 17 points during a game-altering, 15-2 spurt to close the second quarter as the Solons (21-3) secured the first D-II four-peat since Burr and Burton in 1979. Hartford (22-2), which had made its first Final Four in 40 years and its first final since 1933, was aiming to end a 95-year championship drought.

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Cody, a junior, finished with 17 points, to overcome two quick fouls that limited his play in the first quarter. Atif Milak (16 points), Bridge (13 points) and Carter Bruzzese (eight points) aided the Solons, who wrap the season on a 21-game winning streak following a 0-3 start against Division I Metro powers.

"I couldn’t play too much in the first quarter. I didn’t want to quit because that is the last thing you want to do in the championship game, is quit," Cody said. "I’m blessed to be on such a good team — I’m just very happy."

Sean Dunton (12 points), Brody Tyburski (nine points) and Kole Fotion (nine points) paced the Hurricanes, who lost in last year's quarterfinals to Montpelier by 26 points.

"No more of this 40-year and 100-year stuff — we will be back. We weren’t just happy to be here, we wanted to win the whole thing," Hartford coach Mike Gaudette said. "We had some mental breakdowns in the second quarter and you can’t do that against that team — they are too good."

Hartford started strong, seizing a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes before Montpelier chipped away behind Bruzzese's three field goals to level the score at 11 after the first quarter. Hartford staked to a 20-15 lead midway through the second frame thanks to Dunton's 3-pointer and layup.

Hartford's margin sat at 22-18 when the game turned. Bridge knocked down a 3-pointer and Cody's foul shots with 2:37 to play in the first half inched the Solons in front 23-22. Then Cody sandwiched his 3s around Tyburski's inside bucket before the Solons' guard tallied breakaway layups on back-to-back Hartford turnovers in the frontcourt for a 33-24 halftime advantage.

"We knew we’d have to start getting consecutive stops and getting those stops allowed us to go on a big enough run to extend that lead," Montpelier coach Nick Foster said.

Montpelier's shot-making and Hartford's turnovers and missed shots were devastating, Gaudette said.

"That was a perfect storm. They did those three things that couldn’t happen and we let it happen," Gaudette said.

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The Montpelier lead grew to as many as 14 points in the third quarter. In the fourth, Hartford got to within 52-47 with 1:33 to play following Christian Hathorn's trio of foul shots. But Montpelier was well-versed in solving Hartford's 1-3-1 on most possessions — Milak benefited from the press break with easy layups — and the Solons made their final six free throws to seal the program's four-peat and and 10th championship overall.

"These kids work so hard. Their work ethic, their effort and their attitude is amazing," Foster said. "They love to practice. I think they like practice more than the games and I don’t think there are a lot of teams that can say that. They show up every day and they show up when they not supposed to."

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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.