GMC Mens and Womens Basketball win Regional Championships
By Dusan Vuksanovic
“We got it! We got it,” were Doug Hammond’s concluding words for Sunday’s game against Newbury College that brought the Green Mountain Eagles a DIII Independent Conference Northeastern Regional Championship title. The audience joined their players in celebration, as dozens of students huddled up on the court, jumping and chanting “GMC! GMC,” in the packed Eagle Dome.
“Our fans were the ones that were keeping us going! We got to give this one to the fans,” said Hammond, as tears of joy started rolling down his eyes. The tears could have easily been the ones of sorrow, as the Eagles won 68-66 in a thriller game after being down for almost the entire 40 minutes.
The path of triumph started on a February 23rd Saturday afternoon, with the lady Eagles making way for what will turn out to be the most exciting weekend in Green Mountain College’s sports history. The ladies were playing against St. Elizabeth College, which beat Southern Vermont College in the semis the night before.
GMC proved to be insurmountable for St. Elizabeth, as the ladies in white dominated the scoreboards and finished the first half with a comfortable 38-15 lead. Carrying the Eagles in the second half were Brittany Holden and Christina Chamberlin, who scored 16 and 19 points respectively. Never dropping down in their game, Green Mountain College grabbed its first title of the weekend with a 64-48 win.
Three players on the Eagles side were named into the All Tournament Team: Holden, Chamberlin and Emma Buckley, while Holden was also honored with the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament title.
Next on the scene were the Green Mountain men against Finlandia University. “We have to bring this one back home,” Hammond commented before the game.
The Eagles started off poorly, allowing four easy 3-point shots that put Finlandia ahead 8-16. With 8 minutes to go in the first half, Montana called a time-out and asked his players to put pressure on the Lions. The strategy gave the Eagles a 7-0 run and a decrease in lead to 23-27. The upbeat tempo didn’t stick for long, though, and Finlandia retaliated with a 0-7 run, which ended the half 25-37. “I was disappointed with the fact that we were down. I didn’t think we were playing poorly, but we had a couple of mental collapses defensively,” noted Montana.
The second half began splendidly for the Eagles – they made an 18-1 run, took the lead, and kept Finlandia scoreless from the field for over 10 minutes. “They [Eagles] came out and they were defending us a little bit better, and we hadn’t been putting our shots like we had early at the start of the game,” Finlandia’s coach Charlie Kemppainen commented.
However, the Lions returned the favor, and upped their pace to bring the game back to their advantage. “That was just a nature of the game, it’s the game of spurts,” Kemppainen added.
With 3:30 to go, however, Green Mountain was leading 54-52, thanks to Fabian Ferreira and Herley Pellew, who were keeping the team alive. “That’s what they do,” said Nolfris Williams. “They got the lead, and they kept on going.”
With 57-55 and 46 seconds to go, Finlandia had a chance of leveling the game. However, with 15 on the clock, Ferreira made a steal, and called for a time-out. After the brief break, Pellew was immediately fouled, but nailed both free throws for 59-55. Finlandia got a quick lay-up with four seconds until the end, but all they could do was foul Pellew, who again scored both free throws for 61-57, and secured the Eagles a spot in the finals. “We don’t know how to win games easily … It’s how we’ve been playing all year,” Montana noted.
The fans loved the turmoils of the game. “I think this was one of the most exciting comebacks I’ve ever seen,” GMC President Jack Brennan commented after the game. “Games like these convert people,” added Ray Campanile, Green Mountain College’s athletic director.
The Eagles clashed in the finals the next day with the Newbury Nighthawks, to whom they lost 66-73 in Brookline, MA on January 12th. “Newbury beat us early on in the season, and that was our only conference loss,” reminded Williams. “They got the first seed, we got the second, so we feel a bit disrespected, and we’re coming out to win it.” Asked about his predictions before the game, Montana said “Predict we’re going to play very, very hard.”
Right from the whistle, it was Newbury who was dominating the game. Nighthawks made a comfortable 9-19 lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half, but GMC soon caught up with a 9-0 run to make it 24-25. Green Mountain took only their second lead of the game with Ferreira sinking a 3-pointer for 31-30 at 1:25 to go. The result remained unchangedd until the end of the first half.
“We felt good about the way we played in the first half,” said Newbury’s head coach Peter Centola. “Our offense slowed down a little bit, Green Mountain was playing some amazing defense when they made their run.
The second half began the same as the first one, with Newbury dominating in offense. With a 7-18 run, the Nighthawks had a comfortable 10-point lead, and were playing full court pressure. With 10:30 until the end, and the Eagles trailing by 9 points, Montana called a time-out. Asked how he remembered this point in the game, Hammond replied, “Every time we come to this gym [Eagle Dome], we are family, and with some families, you fight through the hardest times.”
Soon after the time-out, similarly to the previous night’s game, GMC made an 11-4 run to make it 56-58 at the 6-minute margin. With four minutes to go, the game was tied at 60 apiece. “We’ve been in that situation so many times,” said Williams. It was Ferreira and Pellew, alongside Eddie Asieduo, who had been giving their teammates a second wind, making big plays and grabbing steals on defense.
Having one minute remaining, Newbury’s senior Steven Morris tied the game at 66-66 with a 3-pointer, forcing Montana to call a time-out. And then, Doug Hammond stepped into the leadership role, sinking two points with 40 seconds to go for 68-66. With the clock at 20, Hammond grabbed a defensive rebound, but failed to hold on to the ball, and allowed Newbury to call the final time-out to organize their last attack.
Five seconds before the end, the ball was dished off to Newbury center whose last-second shot was slammed against the back board, which brought the entire Eagle Dome an overwhelming feeling of victory. “This was the roughest game of my life,” admitted Hammond. “We played Newbury before and they beat us … and to have them for the championship in the Eagle Dome, there’s no better feeling.”
The team and the fans gathered around the mid-court, crying the tears of joy and huddled together, celebrated a championship title that came after last seasons 1-21 score. Throughout the entire tournament, the fans were as loud as they could get. “The fact that I’ve just witnessed 250-300 people chant ‘GMC’ is probably one of the proudest moments of my life,” Montana admitted.
Doug Hammond was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, having scored 40 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in the two championship games. He was also named in the All-Tournament Team, alongside Adam Fisher with 19 points and 28 assists in two games. “Doug Hammond is the best player I’ve ever seen,” noted Fabian Ferreira.
After the official ceremonies, the players cut the nets from the GMC baskets. Asked who is going to pay for the new ones, Montana replied, “The College can take that out of my paycheck as far as I care!”
The last weekend of February 2008 was one for the books. People, who came together to provide support for each other, were united in victory after exhausting battles. It was truly a triumph for all times!
