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In an electric, fast-paced matchup between Brattleboro Union High School and Burr & Burton Academy, both teams wasted no time setting the tone. What followed was a back-and-forth grudge match that hung in the balance across all four quarters, with the Bears ultimately pulling away late for a 63–51 home win.
BBA struck first, but Brattleboro’s Logan Waite immediately made his presence felt. Waite drilled a three on the ensuing possession, then followed it up with a steal and coast-to-coast drive that sent him to the line, where he calmly knocked down both free throws to give the Bears a 5–2 edge.
The opening quarter stayed tight, with both teams trading baskets and momentum swings. A strong take by Hudson Smith and a Smith-to-Waite connection from deep pushed the Bears ahead 12–8, but BBA responded with a 6–0 run. Waite answered again late in the period, burying his second three of the quarter, though the Bulldogs slipped ahead 16–15 heading into the second.
The first quarter set the tone, the Bears turned the dial up in the second.
Noah Moore opened the frame by getting to the line and knocking down both free throws to put Brattleboro back in front. Moments later, Owen Dascomb made his presence felt inside, swatting away a Bulldog attempt and triggering a fast break finished by Moore. The sequence sent the BUHS crowd into a frenzy, chanting “Defense! Defense!” as the Bears fed off the energy. A bucket from Wheeler capped the run, and Brattleboro quickly stretched the lead to 21–16.
BBA stayed within striking distance, answering scores to keep the margin close at 24–20. But a strong defensive stretch, a bucket from Waite, and a Kaden Cole three pushed the Bears ahead 29–20. The Bulldogs responded again, drawing Dascomb’s third foul and forcing him to the bench, then trimming the lead back to just two at 29–27.
Cole steadied the moment with another timely three, sparking an 11–0 Brattleboro run to close the half. Buckets from Cole, Smith, Wheeler, and Waite sent the Bears into the locker room with a 40–27 lead after a dominant final stretch of the second quarter.
Despite the run, the message at halftime was about staying level.
“It was basically 0–0,” said the head coach Winston Sailsman. “Let’s keep playing the way we want to play. We wanted to play aggressive. We wanted to play tough. We wanted next-play mentality. We knew we were gonna make mistakes. I mean, all season long, we’ve been prone to turnovers, so you can’t dwell on it. If we turn it over, if we miss a shot, whatever happens, it’s gotta be next play.”
That mindset has been a focus throughout the week in practice.
“There were moments where I didn’t even blow the whistle,” Sailsman said. “Guys got fouled, I didn’t call it — next play. That’s exactly what we’ve been working on. It’s about building that mental toughness.”
Defensively, the emphasis was just as clear heading into the second half.
“We wanted to take away 23,” he added. “We wanted to take him out of the game, bang on him, make sure we had a body on him. No more offensive rebounds, none of that. And when we do that, the scoring comes in bunches. And when it doesn’t, we’re still able to stay together and string stops.”
The pace slowed to start the third, not from a lack of effort but from strong defense and good looks that simply wouldn’t fall. About four minutes in, Logan Casey connected with Wheeler on a pick-and-roll to break the seal. BBA answered immediately, and the Bulldogs began to claw back into the game. After baskets from Wheeler and Smith, an 8–0 BBA run narrowed the gap to 46–37 heading into the fourth, setting the stage for a tense finish.
The Bulldogs opened the final quarter with the first three points, cutting it to a two-possession game and reigniting the crowd. With the gym once again echoing “Defense,” Dascomb delivered a momentum-swinging play that didn’t show up in the box score, stepping in to take a charge inside and firing up both the crowd and his teammates.
Brattleboro responded. Moore attacked the paint for two, and the Bears began stringing together stops. Smith knocked down a baseline pull-up jumper from about 12 feet to push the lead back to double digits. Moments later, a scramble on a pressed inbounds, bodies flying all over the floor, finally ended with Smith cleaning up under the basket, finishing through contact and sending the gym into absolute chaos.
With the Bears up 55–40, BBA made one last push, rattling off five quick points to keep things interesting. But Brattleboro stayed composed down the stretch, breaking the press for clean looks and answering every Bulldog surge.
When the final horn sounded, the Bears had closed out a complete team performance, earning a 63–51 win in front of an energetic home crowd.
Brattleboro was led offensively by Logan Waite and Hudson Smith with 19 points apiece. Noah Moore added 10 points, while Kaden Cole knocked down a trio of three-pointers for nine points. Wheeler chipped in six points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to round out the Bears’ effort.
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