CVU Basketball – An Odd Week
The boys and girls teams each won one and lost one last week, but the news came Tuesday when students were banned from the boys CVU-Rice boys game because of insulting and demeaning Instagram posts.
CVU Boys
The story of the CVU-Rice boys basketball game Tuesday had little to do with basketball and occurred the morning of the game. That was too bad because CVU eked out a 56-55 victory at Rice, only their third win in the teams’ last 10 games over the last few years. Connor Dubois went 6-for-8 for 13 points and had three blocks and six rebounds. Adrian Paliling scored 10 points.
But the gym was pretty quiet because both schools had banned student attendance after a spate of nasty, insulting posts on Instagram by students from both schools directed at each other. According to both schools, the social media exchanges were crude, violent and sexual in nature and referenced specific players and their families.
On Tuesday morning both schools’ athletic departments and leadership announced that no student fans would be allowed to attend, saying the posts both posed a threat to the safety of students and also did not reflect the values of respect held by the schools.
According to Seven Days, some of the posts taunted Rice students as rich and elitist; one promised a reward to anyone who got kicked out of the game.
No such issues with Friday’s game against Burlington, but on the court, the CVU’s boys hit reality with a loss in a low-scoring game, 42-47. Prodige Bikule posted eight points and five rebounds. Paliling scored 12.
CVU boys are now 9-4 on the year and will travel to Mt. Mansfield Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game.
CVU Girls
Things were much calmer on the girls’ side.
The CVU girls had no trouble off the court or on as it beat Rice handily, 44-26 on Saturday, also at Rice Memorial’s gym. It was nice comeback after a loss on Thursday to St. Johnsbury, 38-45. The girls have an 8-5 record and next travel to Essex for a Monday game at 7:30 p.m.