Whitcomb Falls To Chelsea
By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

Last Friday night in Bethel it was "Senior Recognition" when the Hornets welcomed the Chelsea Red Devils. Seniors from both schools were recognized before the game began. Chelsea has three seniors and Whitcomb has four. The Red Devil seniors are Joe Bonasera, Justin Gilbert and Jordan Lyford. Hornet seniors are Matt Durfee, Deven Hill, Jacob Hunt and Tyler Killian. Whitomb also recognized junior foreign exchange student Clemens Garve, who will be returning to Germany at school’s end.

It took almost two full minutes before anybody scored, but Evan Tullar went 1-of-2 to get the scoring started. Clemens Garve scored the first Hornet hoop on the next possession, before Chelsea responded with a Jim Welch basket and back-to-back 3-pointers by Joe Bonasera. Jacob Hunt deposited the last Hornet basket of the period. After one, it was Chelsea 10 and Whitcomb 4.

During the second period, the Hornets couldn’t hold on to the ball and Chelsea didn’t miss much. Deven Hill and Garve scored two baskets, before Chelsea went to the stripe four consecutive times, where they finally managed to follow through with seven of their eight tries. Chelsea finished the quarter with 13 additional points, including a third 3-pointer by Bonasera, while Whitcomb added eight points, which included the only other 3-pointer of the game by Durfee. While Bonasera’s three were all just outside the arc, Durfee’s was not only a buzzer-beater, it was a good five feet before half court, and a direct bomb into the hoop, for a "nothing but net" zinger.

A seven point Hornet third and a 13 point finish gave Whitcomb 39 game points, while Chelsea added 14 points in the third and 15 in the fourth, to finish at 68. Tullar was high scorer with14 points and Bonasera followed with 9. Garve and Hill finished with 11 points each and Durfee had 10 points for Whitcomb.

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