CHESTER- It was another day at the office for coach Chris “CB” Brown and the Twin Valley boys’ basketball team. The Wildcats played Green Mountain in the first round of the Green Mountain Holiday Tournament on Tuesday. The Chieftains, coached by the legendary Robert “Stretch” Gillam, were 3-2 coming into the tournament and won big against Arlington, West Rutland, and Sharon Academy. Green Mountain, well aware of who they were up against, hoped to pull off an upset. Not quite.

Gilliam knew the Wildcats had a scoring machine that could put up points in the early going. He tried to stall the game by making his team pass around the perimeter. If the Chieftains could keep it a low-scoring affair, they might have a chance. But Green Mountain’s shooting was off, the Wildcats were tougher on the boards, and quick on the turnaround. The Green Mountain strategy failed and the Wildcats took control.

Twin Valley jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter. Green Mountain called time-out, but it did little to stop the damage. The Wildcats scored eight more points and led 16-2 going into the second quarter. Then the Wildcats slowly put the clamps on the Chieftains and it looked painful.

Green Mountain tried three times to inbound the ball, but Wildcats’ co-captain Scotty Hayford stole the ball three straight times and scored six straight points. Gilliam called time-out again with the score 25-2, Wildcats. Then to add insult to injury, Hayford fired off a three-pointer before the buzzer, sank it, and the Wildcats led 46-5 at halftime.

Twin Valley twin towers Troy Birch and Skyler Duncan had hot second halves. Birch was big under the basket, scoring even when he was double-teamed, while Duncan made key baskets and big-time blocks. George Molner picked up the pace, going four for six from three-point land, while Hayford continued to dazzle on offense and defense.

The game was no contest. Green Mountain barely showed up and the Wildcats won with ease, 72-19.

“It was a good game. We came out from the get-go, we played with intensity, and everyone contributed. It was a dominating win,” said Brown.

Hayford scored 24 points and made 10 steals, nine assists, three rebounds, and one blocked shot; Birch scored 15 points, made 11 rebounds, and five steals; Molner scored 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists; Duncan scored six points and made eight rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal; Ian Murdock scored five points and made four rebounds, one assist, and one steal; Jared Cipriano scored four points and made three assists and four steals; Tony Bernard scored four points and made three rebounds and two steals; and Dylan Cusack scored two points and made one rebound.

Justin Veysey scored six points for the Chieftains, while Jacob Walker scored four points.

On Wednesday, Twin Valley plays familiar foe Leland & Gray in the Green Mountain Holiday Tournament championship. Tipoff is at 7:30 pm. On Monday, they play at home against Poultney. Tipoff is at 6:30 pm.