Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News Williamstown's Troy Laughlin (#15 in White) was named to the All-Tournament team at the Woodsville (N.H.) Tournament last weekend. The big senior scored 45 points and hauled down 22 rebounds as well as playing stellar defense in the two games of the tournament. Wiliamstown split the two games,losing to Woodsville (N.H.)72-60 in the opener and defeating Gorham (N.H.) 62-58 in the consolation game. The Blue Devil Boy’s basketball team split their two game in the Woodsville (N.H.) Tournament last weekend. On Saturday the Boy’s fell to Host Woodsville 72-60 but bounced back to take the consolation game with a 62-58 win over Gorham (N.H.). With the win the Blue Devil Boy’s advanced their record to 8-2 midway through the season.

The opening game on Saturday saw the ‘Devils do a lot of sitting before taking to the court. “We left at 12:30 the girls played at 3:30 and we didn’t play until 7:30,” said ‘Devils coach Jack Carrier. “I don’t want to make excuses but that certainly didn’t help us. We came out a little flat.”

Against Woodsville the Blue Devils were playing from behind right from the start. Woodsville broke out to a 16 – 10 lead after one quarter but the Blue Devils had cut that lead by halftime and trailed 33-30 at the intermission.

The third quarter had belonged to Williamstown all season and it looked that way when the second half started. “We took a one point lead early in the third quarter but Woodsville went on a 19-2 run that stretched into the early fourth quarter and that put us away,” said coach Carrier. Woodsville won by 12, 72-60. The Williamstown scoring was spread out. Troy Laughlin, who would be named to the All-Tournament team later, had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Steven Manwaring chipped in with 17 points and 7 rebounds while senior guard Ray Burgos tallied nine. Nick Gagnon threw in eight including two three pointers and Kyle Benway came off the bench to play some excellent minutes and add seven points. “Kyle Benway gave us some excellent play off the bench,” said coach Carrier.

Things went better for the Blue Devils in Sunday’s consolation game against Gorham (N.H.). Troy Laughlin was positively on fire in the first quarter of the Gorham game. The 6-4 senior poured in 14 of the ‘Devils 18 first quarter points as Williamstown broke out to an 18-12 lead. The second quarter belonged to Gorham, however and by halftime the ‘Devils lead had shrunk to 32-30. “We got in a little foul trouble and had to let up the defensive pressure,” coach Carrier said.

By the end of the third quarter the Blue devils had stretched their lead back out to seven at 48-41. It was back in forth in the final quarter with Gorham outscoring Williamstown 17-12 and actually taking a 51-50 lead with five minutes to go. But then Troy Laughlin’s defensive skills took over. “Doug Willey was their big scorer. He had

18 in the first half, twelve of those on three pointers,” said coach Carrier. “ So we pulled troy out front to take care ofhim and he limited Willey to only seven second half points.” Williamstown tightened up the “D” after they lost the lead . “ It could be described as a box and one but whatever you call it our full court pressure caused turnovers,” the coach said. Just a short while later a short jumper by Ray Burgos gave the Blue Devils a lead they would never relinquish. When the final buzzer sounded it was Williamstown 62 Gorham 58. The Blue Devils had secured their eighth win of the season. “ The key was Troy Laughlin’s defense on Willey. It was as impressive as his offense. It was a big part of his being selected for the All-Tournament team,” coach Carrier said.

In addition to his defensive skills Troy Laughlin racked up 23 points and nabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Blue Devil attack. Steven Manwaring added 16 points and pulled down 8 rebounds while Ray Burgos chipped in with 14 points and had 6 assists for the Blue Devils. Kyle Benway had his second straight strong game, coming off the bench scoring six points and hauling in seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils will return to action this Friday when they travel to Twinfield.