Varsity Insider

Mike Wood probably wishes he got paid for mileage in addition to the stipend he gets as head coach for the Rutland High boys basketball team.

His Raiders are taking frequent bus trips north early this season.  Rutland posted a win Monday at Rice Memorial in South Burlington.

Wood and company will be at the North-South Challenge on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at Burlington High and also includes Essex.

Rutland also is scheduled to be part of the Spaulding Holiday Tournament in Barre on both Dec. 17 and Dec. 19.  That also features Mount Mansfield Union.

And to wrap up his pre-Christmas travels, Wood will take his Raiders to St. Johnsbury on Dec. 23.   The final 12 games are against teams in the Marble Valley League, which covers the four most southern counties.

While chatting before the Rice game, Wood said he is trying to get his team tournament-ready and that means taking on some of the tougher teams. 

“We are on the road a lot to get those games,” said Wood about the northern trips.

Woods directed the Raiders to the semifinals last year and has most of his team back this year.  The biggest exception is the loss of Free Press second team all-state Mark Comstock to graduation.

 The Vermont Basketball Coaches Association ranked Rutland second in the pre-season poll, so things look good for at least one and maybe two more trips north for the Division I tournament in Burlington.

The top two seeds (Otter Valley and U-32) were eliminated from the Division II high school field hockey tournament. That leaves No. 3 Windsor and No. 4 Milton at home for its semifinal games.

I was at Milton’s quarterfinal victory over Spaulding on Friday. Lots of positives for the Milton side: strong defense, controlling midfield and a finishing offense.

As mentioned in the game story, Milton has made a dramatic turnaround. The Yellowjackets went through winless seasons in 2007 and 2008. After Friday’s win — its first Div.-II playoff triumph since 1995 — the Yellowjackets can continue its “Cinderella” story, as coach Tiffany Stuart said, in Tuesday’s home semifinal game against Woodstock.

It will be Milton’s first semifinal at home since its 1982 championship season.

Windsor, which won three Div. II titles in the 90s’ and early 2000s, will play Springfield.

For Friday’s field hockey playoff roundup, click here.

For complete tournament results, click here.

Second year Burlington High football coach Brennan Carney has the Seahorses off to a 3-1 start this year after taking over a struggling program in 2008 that went winless.

Carney, a former three-sport standout at South Burlington, now has to prepare for Friday night when he hosts his old coach Joe McDonald. McDonald was in the top row of the Rice grandstand scouting on Saturday in the 21-0 win over the Green Knights.

Carney, who turned a winless Spaulding program in his first season into state champions the following year, said  BHS needs to take its next step after beating an inspired Rice squad.

“Other guys have to step up. It just can’t be Cooper (Wile) all the time. Andrew (Cane) played really well for us. Andrew is a good player. He is playing great and doing a lot of different things for us. We have a lot of guys that have to play a little better, a little crisper and we’ll be a better team,” said Carney after the win at Rice.

Kick-off at the D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex has been bumped to 7:30 Friday night because BHS is hosting Rutland in boys soccer at 4 p.m. on the turf field.