Varsity Insider

I’ll post the hockey predictions by mid-day Tuesday.

You can find the pairings here and here. Now, on to the girls basketball predictions.

Division I

Playdowns
No. 8 Hartford over No. 9 MMU
No. 4 Champlain Valley over No. 13 Bellows Falls
No. 5 Rice over No. 12 St. Johnsbury
No. 2 Burlington over No. 15 Colchester
No. 10 Spaulding over No. 7 Brattleboro
No. 3 Rutland over No. 14 North Country
No. 6 South Burlington over No. 11 Essex

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Burr and Burton over No. 8 Hartford
No. 5 Rice over No. 4 Champlain Valley
No. 2 Burlington over No. 10 Spaulding
No. 6 South Burlington over No. 3 Rutland

Semifinals
No. 5 Rice over No. 1 Burr and Burton
No. 2 Burlington over No. 6 South Burlington

Final
Burlington 44, Rice 37
- The BHS-Rice rivalry is not just for the boys anymore. This one goes to the Seahorses, who haven’t won a crown since the back end of a repeat in 1976.

Division II

Playdowns
No. 8 Vergennes over No. 9 U-32
No. 4 Lyndon over No. 13 Harwood
No. 5 Middlebury over No. 12 Missisquoi
No. 7 Mount Abraham over No. 10 Springfield
No. 6 Otter Valley over No. 11 Woodstock

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Milton over No. 8 Vergennes
No. 5 Middlebury over No. 4 Lyndon
No. 2 Lamoille over No. 7 Mount Abraham
No. 3 Fair Haven over No. 6 Otter Valley

Semifinals
No. 1 Milton over No. 5 Middlebury
No. 2 Lamoille over No. 3 Fair Haven

Final
Milton 55, Lamoille 44
- It’s been Milton and Lamoille all season long in Division II. I see no reason the two teams don’t navigate through the tournament and meet in Barre. Though, Milton cops second crown in three years.

Division III

Playdowns
No. 1 Lake Region over No. 15 MSJ
No. 9 Enosburg over No. 8 Mill River
No. 4 Twin Valley over No. 13 Leland & Grey
No. 5 Green Montain over No. 12 Thetford
No. 2 Northfield over No. 15 Randolph
No. 7 Windsor over No. 10 Hazen
No. 3 Montpelier over No. 14 Peoples
No. 6 Oxbow over No. 11 BFA-Fairfax

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Lake Region over No. 9 Enosburg
No. 4 Twin Valley over No. 5 Green Mountain
No. 2 Northfield over No. 7 Windsor
No. 3 Montpelier over No. 6 Oxbow

Semifinals
No. 1 Lake Region over No. 4 Twin Valley
No. 3 Montpelier over No. 2 Northfield

Final
Lake Region 61, Montpelier 43
- Lake Region can play with the anybody — proof of its close loss to Burlington — so this tournament should be no problem, right? … I think so.

Division IV

Playdowns
No. 1 South Royalton over No. 16 Proctor
No. 8 Chelsea over No. 9 Concord
No. 4 Twinfield over No. 13 Danville
No. 5 Williamstown over No. 12 Poultney
No. 2 Arlington over No. 15 Richford
No. 7 Blue Mountain over No. 10 United Christian
No. 3 W. Rutland over No. 14 Canaan
No. 6 Rivendell over No. 11 Rochester

Quarterfinals
No. 1 South Royalton over No. 8 Chelsea
No. 5 Williamstown over No. 4 Twinfield
No. 2 Arlington over No. 7 Blue Mountain
No. 6 Rivendell over No. 3 W. Rutland

Semifinals
No. 1 South Royalton over No. 5 Williamstown
No. 6 Rivendell over No. 2 Arlington

Final
South Royalton 34, Rivendell 29
- SoRo gains revenge on Rivendell for an earlier season loss and claims first title in program history.

The response has been good on the hockey polls. Keep voting.

Who will win the D-I girls basketball title?
(polls)

Who will win the D-2 girls basketball title?
(polls)

Who will win the D-3 girls basketball title?
(polls)

Who will win the D-4 girls basketball title?
(polls)

There’s plenty of games on Saturday’s schedule — over 40 from my count — so let’s highlight a few in a new blog feature I’d like to call: “Big Weekend.”

“Big Weekend” derives from my love of a Tom Petty song (you can guess the name). If you recall, I used Petty’s song title as a the name of blog post for a fall playoff weekend

My goal is to have a weekend preview every week until the winter season is complete.

Feedback is always encouraged — especially earlier in the week — on which games I should highlight.

So here’s my three must-see games for Saturday:

Girls basketball: Milton (15-0) at Lamoille (13-0), 2:30 p.m.
This Division II battle in Hyde Park has all the makings of a championship preview. Just ask Lamoille coach Tim Messier.

“I hope this is Round 1 of 2,” Messier said.

Chelsea Dunham and Annie Wells are the offensive stars, but defense has been Lamoille’s bread and butter this season, Messier said.

Messier’s group yields 30.7 points per game while scoring at a clip of 55.7 per game.

Milton (40.5/34.3) has a nice collection of stars in Kaitlin Geary, Brittaney Rice and Stephanie Bull.

The winner will “probably be in the driver’s seat” for the Division’s top seed.

Girls hockey: Missisquoi at Essex, 5 p.m.
After a slow start, the Thunderbirds are playing better hockey, and are in position to make some noise come playoff time. They sit at 9-5 after a five-game winning streak — during they knocked off BFA-St. Albans.

Defending Division I champion Essex (11-2-2), meanwhile, is chasing Spaulding for the top seed. The Hornets won the first matchup back in December.

Boys hockey: Stowe vs. Champlain Valley at Cairns, 8:20 p.m.
The Raiders of Stowe are having a fine season with their 13-2 record. Now comes Stowe’s biggest test: A road date against Division I champion Champlain Valley.

The Redhawks (8-5-1) are 1-3-1 in the last five games — a surprising slump for a team that knocked off previously unbeaten Essex on Dec. 30.

Here’s the complete schedule for Saturday’s high school games:

High school girls basketball
(All games 2:30 p.m. unless noted)
Middlebury at South Burlington, noon
North Country at Essex, 12:30 p.m.
Canaan Memorial at Twinfield, 1 p.m.
Colchester at Missisquoi
Milton at Lamoille
Hazen at Northfield
Danville at BFA-Fairfax
Stowe at Enosburg
Lake Region at Richford
Whitcomb at Rochester
Rivendell at Sharon
Craftsbury at Williamstown
St. Johnsbury at Rutland

High school boys basketball
Cabot at Concord, 1 p.m.
Canaan Memorial at Twinfield, 2:30 p.m.
United Christian at Trinity Baptist, 2:30 p.m.
Craftsbury at Williamstown, 4 p.m.

High school girls hockey
Stowe vs. Mount Mansfield at Essex, 1 p.m.
Burr and Burton at Hartford, 2 p.m.
North Country vs. Northfield at Kreitzberg, 2 p.m.
South Burlington vs. Spaulding at Barre BOR, 3:45 p.m.
Montpelier vs. Rice at Cairns, 4 p.m.
Brattleboro at Middlebury, 4:45 p.m.
Missisquoi at Essex, 5 p.m.
Rutland vs. U-32 at Central Vermont, 6 p.m.
Colchester vs. BFA-St. Albans at Collins-Perley, 7 p.m.
Woodstock vs. Harwood at Washington, 7 p.m.

High school boys hockey
BFA-St. Albans vs. South Burlington at Cairns, 2 p.m.
Lyndon vs. Brattleboro at Nelson Withington, 2:45 p.m.
Northfield vs. Mount Mansfield at Essex, 3 p.m.
Spaulding vs. Burr and Burton at Riley, 4:30 p.m.
North Country vs. Harwood at Washington, 5 p.m.
Mount St. Joseph vs. Missisquoi at Highgate, 6 p.m.
Rutland vs. Burlington at Leddy, 6:20 p.m.
Milton at Middlebury, 7 p.m.
Rice at Essex, 7:30 p.m.
Peoples vs. Woodstock at Union, 7:30 p.m.
St. Johnsbury vs. U-32 at Central Vermont, 8 p.m.
Stowe vs. Champlain Valley at Cairns, 8:20 p.m.
Hartford vs. Colchester at Leddy, 8:50 p.m.

High school wrestling
Colchester High School Invitational, 10 a.m.
Harwood Duals, 10 a.m.

High school gymnastics
Middlebury at St. Johnsbury, 1 p.m.

High school cross country skiing
Open meet at Craftsbury, classic 4×5 relay, 9 a.m.
Open meet vs. Rutland, paintball, 11 a.m.

High school indoor track
Meet at Norwich

(Schedules subject to change)

Just a reminder for this week: We are taking into account all games played since our last posted rankings.

Debate, criticize and offer your view of the best five teams in the comments section.

Here’s our Week 7 basketball rankings (through games played 1/25):

Boys basketball

1. Essex (11-1): The Hornets, currently on a 10-game game roll, haven’t played since Jan. 14. Fear not Essex fans, a lull in the schedule won’t sway our opinion on the state’s top team. Last ranking: 1.

2. Burlington (11-1): The Seahorses routed three teams in the lower half of the Division I standings. They’re locked into the No. 2 spot for now. Last ranking: 2.

3. Rutland (11-3): Wins over Hartford and Mill River – both from Division II – are not impressive for Rutland. However, topping Brattleboro to stretch is winning streak to 10 games is. Last ranking: 4.

4. Mount Anthony (10-2): The Patriots have one in-state loss (Rutland) and blew past a Burr and Burton squad that is ranked fifth in the index points. While Mount Anthony’s scheduled opponents are a bit of an unknown (like Massachusetts’ Drury and Wahconah), they still deserve inclusion in our rankings at this point. Last ranking: Not ranked.

5. South Burlington (8-4): How important is Tyler Kaczor to the Rebels? Well, they lost to CVU and Spaulding without him. With him, South Burlington rolled over Colchester 79-38, and Kaczor poured in 27 points. Last ranking: 3.

Teams on the outside looking in:

It was tough leaving Champlain Valley out of the mix, but you can’t lose to a rebuilding Rice squad and need a second-half burst to edge a sub.500 MMU squad. … Brattleboro and Division I newbie Burr and Burton are on the bubble, as is Division II’s Harwood, thanks to its 11-1 record.

Girls basketball

1. Burlington (13-2): There’s a new No. 1 team. The Seahorses have played a ton of games – six total – and won them all since our last rankings. It’s tough to argue when BHS beats Rice, Spaulding and Essex during its current 7-game winning streak. Last ranking: 4.

2. Rutland (13-2): So the Raiders are back in our rankings. It only took an eight-game winning streak that has pulled them even with Burlington atop the index points. Last ranking: Not ranked.

3. Milton (13-0): You can’t almost lose to Division II’s Mount Abraham and a middle-of-the road Division I Mount Mansfield squad and expect to hold the top spot in our rankings. Credit still must be given for pulling out the wins – the Yellowjackets needed a fourth-quarter surge to overcome a deficit to Mount Abraham – and that’s why they only drop two spots. Last ranking: 1.

4. Rice (11-4): The Green Knights responded to a streak-ending loss to BHS with wins over St. Johnsbury, BFA-St. Albans and Champlain Valley. It was the second time this season Rice has beaten CVU. I would expect a move up the rankings for the Green Knights in the near future. Last ranking: 2.

5. Champlain Valley (12-3): If only the Redhawks could find a way to beat Rice… Perhaps in the playoffs. Still like this team for a deep tournament run, too. Last ranking: 3.

Teams on the outside looking in:
Hartford, Brattleboro and Burr and Burton are southern powers that shouldn’t be overlooked. … Lamoille is undefeated and fighting Milton for the top seed in Division II.

Plenty of shifts and movements in this week’s edition for us to chat about. Hockey rankings will be posted tomorrow.

Here’s our Week 5 basketball rankings (through games played 1/09):

Boys basketball

1. Essex (9-1): During its current eight-game winning streak, Essex is averaging 75 points per game, while yielding just 57. Oh, and the Hornets halted BHS’ long regular-season unbeaten streak. There’s no question that Essex deserves the top spot. Also beat CVU. Last week: 2.

2. Burlington (8-1): Although their 58-game regular-season winning streak ended, the Seahorses are still right in the thick of things. They bounced back from the loss to Essex with a rout of Colchester. Last week: 1.

3. South Burlington (7-2): We said last week that SBHS has too much talent to stay down in the rankings. They confirmed our prediction with sound victories over Rice and North Country. In the win over the Falcons, the Rebels scored 60 second-half points, further proving their explosive nature. Last week: 5.

4. Rutland (8-3): Don’t look now but the Red Raiders are on a seven-game winning streak after edging previously unbeaten Mount Anthony in a classic battle. Last week: Not ranked.

5. Champlain Valley (7-3): A 1-2 week — with losses to Essex and Spaulding — drop the Redhawks in our rankings. Last week: 3.

Girls basketball

1. Milton (10-0): Can a Division II team earn the top spot in our rankings? Well, our rankings’ debut had the Yellowjackets in the top spot, and now they make a return. Strong, double-digit wins over lower-ranked D-I squads South Burlington and Colchester — plus a 40-point rout of BFA-Fairfax — are solid reasons for Milton’s jump. At this moment, who’s playing better? Last week: 2.

2. Rice (8-3): Can’t ignore a seven-game winning streak — not when the Green Knights knock off streaking Essex and defending champion Spaulding in a span of a few days. With the Knights’ quickness, are they a team nobody wants to face? Last week: Not ranked.

3. Champlain Valley (8-2): The Redhawks had a nice win over Burlington, getting double-double efforts from Allison Gannon and Shae Hulbert. But then they lost to St. Johnsbury. CVU’s reign atop the rankings is over — for now. Last week: 1.

4. Burlington (7-2): Tonya Conley’s 21 points helped BHS bounce back from a tough loss to CVU. Tonight’s meeting against Rice is pivotal.Last week: 3.

5. Brattleboro (10-1): Wins over an out-of-state school and Mount Anthony puts the Colonels back on track. Last week: 5.