DUXBURY – North Country is filled with forward momentum but couldn’t help but enjoy a trip down memory lane during Saturday’s 50-35 victory over Harwood.

The Falcons used suffocating defense at the beginning of the game and relied on the dynamic duo of Sabine Brueck and Maya Auger to overpower the Highlanders in similar fashion to last year’s semifinal win over HU. Brueck scored 15 of her 29 points during a decisive second quarter to help her team build a comfy lead in a rematch that conjured up flashbacks from last February at the Barre Aud. Auger finished with 15 points after heating up from beyond the arc down the stretch.

“We knew what they were going to try and do – and they did it,” Harwood coach Tom Young said. “They feed off their guards: They feed off Auger and Brueck. We held Auger to six first-half points, but she had two 3’s in the fourth. And we held Brueck in check at the start, but in the second quarter she had 15 points. We switched up some matchups just because of Brueck and I thought Roanha (Chalmers) did a great job on her early in the game. We tried a couple different combinations in the second quarter and the big thing was that we can’t give up 22 points in a quarter.”

North Country led 9-4 following the first quarter and was in front 31-18 entering halftime. After carrying a 42-29 advantage into the final quarter, the reigning Division II champs easily sealed the victory by limiting Harwood to six fourth-quarter points.

“In the second quarter we scored 14, which I was happy with,” Young said. “But we gave up 22. And the rest of the game was a two-point game. Between a four-point first quarter and then the second quarter, that was a big turning point. At halftime we made some adjustments and we went to a zone in the third and it frustrated them a little bit. But they pulled out and didn’t have to force anything. We’ll take a look at it and see what we can do next time, because we figure we’ll see them again at some point. They played well and Brueck played well. We got in foul trouble early and had to switch up some matchups. The girls played hard, but North Country just had a better game.”

Last year the Falcons earned a 42-23 semifinal victory over the Highlanders before winning the championship to cap a 24-0 campaign. North Country established a 24-7 halftime lead over Harwood at the Aud and had no trouble locking up the victory, paced by 20 points from Brueck and 17 from Auger (five 3-pointers).

“We had eight different players last year than we did this year,” Young said. “They lost (Cora Nadeau) and they were on a 26-game win streak. I think it still feels like they’re trying to find some of their identity as a team, but they’re so disciplined. And I wouldn’t compare the two games – that’s not fair to their championship team to say that.”

Harwood’s Quinn Nelson scored 12 points Saturday in addition to recording six rebounds and three blocks. Teammates Eloise Lilley (nine points, five rebounds) and Chalmers (six points, five rebounds) also made solid scoring contributions, while teammate Maddie Ryley ran the point and prevented North Country from getting many fast-break opportunities.

“Maddie only had five turnovers,” Young said. “Against them, that’s not bad as the point guard. We had three sophomores in the starting lineup and they got a taste of what a championship defense looks like. There were a lot of positives we can take from it and we’ll learn from it and get better. And tip your hat to North Country: Sarah (Roy) has them playing very disciplined and they’re a good team.”

This past fall North Country snapped Harwood’s nine-game winning streak in soccer by earning a 2-1 late-season victory. Brueck tallied both goals for the Falcons and Auger made six saves in front of the net while competing against many of the same Highlander standouts who are on the basketball roster.

“They know each other through different sports and Brueck is a good three-sport athlete,” Young said. “And you get familiar just because it’s a Capital League team and you want to play well against them.”

Harwood (5-1) will travel to play Lamoille at 7 p.m. Tuesday. North Country (6-1) will host Lake Region at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Williamstown 60, BFA-Fairfax 38

WILLIAMSTOWN — Destiny Campbell (16 points) and Courtney Townsend (11 points) paced a balanced Blue Devils offense during Saturday’s rout over the Bullets.

“We came out very focused and together to start the game,” Williamstown coach Sid Sweet said. “We pushed the pace and shared the ball well and seven players scored in the first quarter alone.”

Meliah Hutchinson added nine points in the victory, while teammate Paige Dwinell chipped in with four points, five boards and five steals. Adi See finished with 17 points for BFA, which trailed 22-5 after the first quarter. The Blue Devils were in front 33-15 entering halftime and led 43-26 after three quarters.

“It seemed like in the middle two quarters we were actually trying too hard,” Sweet said. “But In the fourth we got back on track. Destiny and Hannah Spencer did a great job forcing the tempo and Courtney did a nice job finding her stride offensively. Meliah came out aggressively again, scoring five points in the first quarter. And Paige did a nice job giving us all she could even though she was playing a little under the weather.”

Williamstown (5-1) will host Twinfield-Cabot at 6 p.m. Tuesday. BFA-Fairfax (1-7) will travel to play Hazen at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“We have a tough match up against Twinfield on Tuesday,” Sweet said. “it was nice to see them in the gym scouting us, along with a couple other teams. We’re looking forward to a great game Tuesday.”

BOYS BASKETBALL

Williamstown 75,

Northfield 25

WILLIAMSTOWN — Three Blue Devils finished with double-digit scoring performances during Saturday’s wire-to-wire victory over the Marauders.

Colby Laggner (15 points, 12 rebounds), David Tom (12 points, four assists, three steals) and Cooper Sumner (12 points) led the way for Williamstown, which entered halftime in front 35-19. Northfield’s top scorer was Kane Knapp (15 points).

“David Tom was a huge sparkplug for us off the bench tonight,” Blue Devils coach Adam Wheatley said. “The first half he scored 10 points and really sparked us. The second half I was able to get everyone in and my freshmen really played well. Cooper Sumner scored 10 points in the second half and played really good defense.”

Northfield (0-8) will host Milton at 6 p.m. Monday. Williamstown (5-3) will host Richford at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

BOYS HOCKEY

U-32 9, Northfield 1

NORTHFIELD — Three-sport standout Maddox Heise boosted the Raiders with a hat trick for the third time this season and teammate John Widener scored twice during Saturday’s blowout victory over the Marauders.

A four-goal first period by U-32 was followed by a five-goal outburst in the second period. Netminder Angus Kurts stopped nine shots for the visitors, while Northfield goalie Landon Amell stopped 38 shots.

Jacob Amones opened the scoring for U-32 with 6:54 left in the first period before Colton Warren assisted Widener two minutes later. Widener scored again 12 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, with Warren and Heise notching assists. Jackson Jagemann stretched the lead to 4-0 on a Max Scribner assist with 52 seconds on the clock.

Heise scored twice in a span of 1:29 early in the second period. Warren tallied assists on both goals, while Owen Sheehan and Jackson Stevens also registered assists. Scribner set up Owen Jones for a goal with 10:44 left in the period and then Warren assisted Heise five minutes later. A Scribner goal on assists by Sheehan and Liam Weller made it a nine-goal game with 1:12 on the clock. Northfield’s Cooper Hurley broke up the shutout bid on a feed from Kris Morris with 42 seconds left in the middle period.

U-32 (4-4-1) will travel to play St. Johnsbury at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Northfield (0-5) will host Lyndon the same day at 7:15 p.m.

Stowe-Peoples 4,

St. Johnsbury 2

STOWE — Four players scored for the Wolves and Raiders to fuel a hard-earned victory during Saturday’s back-and-forth game.

Stowe-Peoples held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before the Hilltoppers evened things up again in the opening minute of the final period. The hosts pulled away for good by scoring twice in a span of 38 seconds late in the game to prevail.

“I was very impressed with St. Johnsbury’s passing,” Stowe-PA coach Jon Grace said. “They passed the puck well in the neutral zone and cycled in our defensive zone. We played well enough to win tonight but I still think we can play better. We need to be ready to play every day. This league is tight and anyone can beat anyone on any given day. We need to show up.”

Stowe-Peoples grabbed the lead with 3:09 left in the first period when Max King scored on assists by Ashton Tibbits and Aaron Lepikko. St. Johnsbury made it a 1-1 with 4:32 left in the middle period when Memphis Mastine capitalized on an Evan Windrow assist. The Wolves and Raiders regained the lead with 3:43 left in the second period, with Derek Baxter burying a goal on feeds from Noah Brown and Lepikko

“We mixed some different styles of play in and I was pleased to see that our kids can make that transition mid-game,” Grace said. “We had a great game out of Derek Baxter. He is using his teammates well and playing defensively. We need that type of play from him every game. ...I also thought Ian Nolan had a great game. He notched his first career goal tonight but I really love watching him play defense. He is smart and does all the little things well.”

An unassisted effort by Phinny Huntington knotted things up at 2-2 with 14:02 left in the final period. Nolan tallied his first varsity goal with 2:05 left to play, thanks to another assist by Lepikko. Tibbits scored an empty-netter with 1:27 remaining on assists by Baxter and King.

St. Johnsbury goalie Nate Delman recorded 32 saves, while Stowe-Peoples netminder Liam Newhouse stopped 19 shots.

“Liam had a great night,” Grace said. “We were able to limit shots. But the shots they did have were good opportunities and Liam makes it look easy.

St. Johnsbury (1-6) will host Hartford at 2 p.m. Monday. Stowe (5-2-2) will host Harwood on Jan. 13 at 4:15 p.m.

Spaulding 3, CVU 3

SOUTH BURLINGTON — Evan Peloquin (two goals) and Cam Thayer scored for the Crimson Tide and teammate Noah Long made 28 saves during Saturday’s tie with the Redhawks.

Nic Menard buried two goals for the hosts, Connor Malaney scored once and CVU goalie Jesse McCray recorded 13 saves. Spaulding (2-3-2) will travel to play South Burlington at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. CVU (1-3-2) will host Rice the same day at 7:30 p.m.

Harwood 5, Missisquoi 3

HIGHGATE — Multiple-point efforts by Milo Lavit (two goals, two assists), Griffen Nelson (two goals) and Eli Herrington (one goal, one assist) guided the Highlanders past the Thunderbirds on Saturday.

Goalie Andrew Achilles made 15 saves in the victory, while MVU netminder Ethan Stefaniak stopped 32 shots. The Thunderbirds were led offensively by goals from Wyatt Bellrose (one assist). Jayden Butler and Ryan Laroche.

“This game was a tough test for us because we had to navigate through 21 minutes of penalties,” Harwood coach Matt Migonis said. “That’s nearly half the game. However, a strong second- and third-period push got us through and the boys found a way to capitalize on their chances. Tough, grind-it-out games like this only make teams stronger going forward.”

Harwood (5-3) will host Burlington at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Missisquoi (0-8-1) will host Milton the same day at 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS HOCKEY

U-32 10, Brattleboro 1

MONTPELIER — The Raiders breezed to their third straight victory Saturday and doubled down on their reputation as one of the hottest teams around after outscoring opponents 28-3 during the past 12 days.

Hannah Drury tucked away four goals and teammates Emily Tringe, Chloe Pembroke and Alex Pickel punished the Bears with two goals apiece. U-32 goalie Adelaide Croteau made 14 saves, while Brattleboro goalie Nellie Sterling turned aside 24 shots.

U-32 didn’t waste any time taking control, as Tringe scored on feeds from Pickel and Gabby Cruickshank with 13:58 left in the opening period. Pembroke doubled the lead 42 seconds later before Tringe and Pickel assisted Drury with 10:38 on the clock.

Grace Lagerstedt set up Pembroke for a 4-0 lead with 8:39 left in the second period. A Tringe goal on a Pickel assist midway through the period and a Drury goal just over two minutes later left U-32 with a 6-0 advantage.

The Raiders were hot out of the gate in the third period, with Tringe assisting Pickel eight seconds into the action before Pickel scored seven seconds after the subsequent faceoff. Drury added insurance goals on assists by Madalyn Covey and Tringe. Greta Koenig scored for the Bears with 11:06 left in the third period.

Brattleboro (0-8) will host Middlebury at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday. U-32 (4-5) will travel to play Woodstock the same day at 6:40 p.m.

Spaulding 3,

CVU-MMU 2

SOUTH BURLINGTON — Lilly Mayo scored on an Ally French assist with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to help the Crimson Tide avoid overtime Saturday.

“Ally split the defense with a pass right up the middle and Lilly caught it and went in alone from the blue line and got the shot off just in time,” Crimson Tide coach Dave Lawrence said. “And she beat their goalie with a clean shot.”

French tucked away a game-tying goal in the first period and then teammate Ruby Harrington scored a go-ahead goal in the second period. Goalie Gabrielle Bock made 26 saves for the Crimson Tide, compared to 23 stops by CVU-MMU netminder Ella Gilbert.

Eva Mazur and Megan Rivard scored for the CougarHawks, who fall to 1-3-1 and will travel to play Burlington-Colchester at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Spaulding (4-2) will travel to play South Burlington at 5:15 p.m. the same day.

“It was nice because we played with a little bit of lead,” Lawrence said. “In a couple of our other games that we won, we were behind with a two-goal deficit and a three-goal deficit. It felt like we made a few mistakes to help CVU, but it was good to get a lead and have some confidence going into the third period. And It was nice to be on the road and get a win in a game where everybody worked hard. Everyone was doing their best to play well and we gutted one out at the end. We still have stuff to work on. But the kids should be really proud to hang in there and finish one off.”

Woodstock 8, Harwood 0

WOODSTOCK — Gracelyn Laperle buried four goals Saturday and Hannah Gubbins registered two goals and one assist while leading the Wasps to a lopsided victory over the Highlanders.

Ryann Hughes and Maggie Mello added one goal apiece for Woodstock, which tucked away five goals in the opening period. Teammate Alaythia Lockhart stopped five shots in the shutout.

Harwood (0-8) will host Hartford on Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. Woodstock (6-1) will host U-32 at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.