Ray Drake Quotations

Liam (Smith) stepped up in the second half. That's kind of how he's played all year. Ben (Parker) played good defense, but his shot wasn't going in. Jon is the real quarterback of the team. He's a real point guard and he'd rather have the assist than the basket. Sometimes I wish he'd shoot more.

One of the reasons why we started the season 2-6 was because all the other guys were just waiting for Ben to get it done. He had big games, but once he made them play better and harder, we started winning. He was a good leader for the other guys.

We looked rusty because we haven't played in nine days. But we picked it up. Their pressure did bother us. Montpelier shot well in the first half, and they couldn't score in the second. I think we handled their defense pretty well. They definitely made us change things up on offense, but I think we handled it well.

Ben played an incredible game ? on the boards as well as offensively ? and Jon Griffin really led the team.

Put it this way, every coach hopes to find a player like Ben Parker in their program. He's a good ball player, a great student, and most of all just a good person. There wasn't much he couldn't do. He scored 25 (points) against Spaulding and 31 against Mt. Mansfield, which were two of the best teams in the state.

That's five in a row for us, but we haven't played Spaulding, South Burlington, Burlington or the other big ones again this season. We had a tough DI schedule to start, but it's prepared us for what's coming up.

It was a good game. It was tight most of the way. It was 26-26 at the half.

I'm proud of my guys ? they never gave up. We just couldn't get baskets. We missed some bunnies real early, but they worked hard.

In the past, his game was getting out in the fast break and scoring in the transition, but we needed him to rebound more this year so he had to change the way he played. And when most teams keyed in on him and he drew the double team, it was a different game for him. But he still posted the numbers. At the end of the season, he was averaging 18 points and nine rebounds.