Hilltoppers Headed to the Finals

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Created on Thursday, 07 March 2013 16:42
Written by Courtland Hanley

sja burl semi final ssBURLINGTON - Only three schools have earned the right to call themselves Vermont Division I undefeated state champions. Tuesday night, the Saint Johnsbury Hilltoppers would try to join that elite group of teams despite missing one of their best players.

Over 1,500 fans, friends and family packed into the University of Vermont's Patrick Gymnasium for the Division I Semi-Final matchup between the Hilltoppers and the Burlington Seahorses. Burlington took the lead with the games first shot, a three-point field goal. Hilltopper guard Brendan O'Shea tried to answer with a three-pointer of his own, but missed. Senior Drew Hovey came up with the offensive rebound and put it back up for Saint Johnsbury's first basket of the night.


Saint Johnsbury's first lead of the game wouldn't come until later in the quarter, when Jacob Grinbergs collected three of his 11 first quarter points. Grinbergs helped spark a 14-4 run to finish the quarter.


The Hilltoppers never looked back from there, and carried a 12-point lead into halftime, 31-19. The Seahorses were able to grab the second half's first basket as well with a runner by Jervon Montgomery, but Saint Johnsbury's defense was just too much. The Seahorses were held to under 39% shooting from the field, while the Hilltopper's shot nearly 49%.


Jake Grinbergs finished with 16 points while Tristen Ross added 14 of his own, leading the Hilltoppers to the 55-39 victory.
Saint Johnsbury Head Coach Tom O'Shea said "I think people know we have a number of good players, almost four had double figures. We're not a one man team by any means." The Hilltoppers certainly proved that Tuesday night, as their leading scorer and rebounder Vlad Cobzaru scored just two points in limited minutes.


The Hilltoppers will return to the Patrick Gymnasium Thursday night to play Rice in the State Championship.
Saint Johnsbury defeated Rice twice in the regular season, and if they're able to finish the season perfect Thursday night, they will be the first undefeated Division I Champion in Vermont since their opponents Tuesday night did it in 2008.