BARRE- The end of the road for the Twin Valley boys’ basketball team came Wednesday night. The Wildcats faced number-two seed Williamstown in the division IV semifinals and Williamstown fought toe-to-toe with the Wildcats every step of the way.

The Wildcats came out firing in the first half. Scotty Hayford and Skyler Duncan led the way on scoring and the Wildcats used a three-two full court press. The Wildcats forced several Blue Devils turnovers and led 18-17 after one.

The Wildcats led by as much as 10 points in the second quarter, but the offense hit a brick wall that proved to be their undoing. Twin Valley missed several easy layups, open shots, and Duncan and Jared Cipriano got into early foul trouble.

Despite the deficit, Williamstown never let the game get out of reach. Steve Manwaring gave the Wildcats trouble in the paint. Mitchell St. Onge was on the receiving end of some wide-open passes and he made the easy layups. Ray Burgos made key three-fers down the stretch and they were only behind by eight points at halftime.

But things got worse in the third quarter for the Wildcats. The Blue Devils went on a 10-2 run to tie the score and they figured out the Wildcats’ three-two defense. Troy Laughlin gave Williamstown their first lead of the game. Troy Birch finally broke the Wildcats’ scoring drought to tie the score, but the Blue Devils went back ahead. Duncan came back in and tied the score at 40-40 going into the final quarter.

The Wildcats hung on by the skin of their teeth and kept pace with Williamstown. With 12.3 seconds left on the clock, Hayford drove to the basket and scored to give the Wildcats a 55-53 lead. Williamstown drove the ball upcourt quickly and Burgos took the final shot. Hayford blocked it, but Burgos got the loose ball. He took one more shot and sank it at the buzzer, forcing the game into overtime.

Troy Laughlin had a superb overtime for the Blue Devils. He scored four straight points for Williamstown for a 59-55 lead. George Molner left the game due to severe muscle cramps, Duncan fouled out, and Williamstown held on to the lead. Twin Valley tried to force fouls, but the Blue Devils continued to run out the clock. Molner came back in with seconds to go in overtime and heaved a half-court shot that fell short of the basket. Williamsville survived in overtime and they beat the Wildcats, 63-60. They now face Proctor in the division IV state championship.

Twin Valley 69, Arlington 36 (preliminaries)

WILMINGTON- The Twin Valley boys’ basketball team kicked off the division IV playdowns with an easy win over their first round opponents. The third-seed Wildcats played 14-seed Arlington, whom they already walloped twice this season. This time it was no different.

The Wildcats got off to a slow start. Arlington scored a three in the opening minutes and held on to an early lead. But Twin Valley eventually woke up and pulled ahead. By halftime, they led Arlington, 29-15.

Twin Valley 82, Websterville 35 (quarterfinals)

WILMINGTON- The Wildcats went on to face six-seed Websterville and pummeled them, 82-35. Twin Valley showed the Warriors no mercy from the opening tip-off. They stole, passed, and scored with ease and led the Warriors, 21-7, after the first quarter.

Brown went to the bench with three minutes left in the third quarter and they held the fort for the remainder of the game. Tony Bernard double-faked Shuman twice to get a hard-earned basket, Ian Murdock followed with a huge three-fer, and Dylan Cusack and Trevor Appel were strong on the boards. The Wildcats left the Warriors in a trail of dust and advanced to the semifinals, 82-35. “We were just playing our game of solid defense. They played unselfish. We like to play that way and I told them this win is a great accomplishment.” said Brown.