Friday Night Lights: Top Matchups to Watch Part 1 – CVU vs BHS

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's a good day for VT basketball! We've got the top six D1 teams in action with #1 CVU facing #3 Burlington, and #2 MMU vs #6 BFA St. Albans. Then #4 Essex visits South Burlington while Rice heads to the NEK to visit #5 St. Johnsbury. Let's get a look at the top two games, the first being CVU vs BHS. Let's dive in!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#1 Champlain Valley vs #3 Burlington</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This game is poised to set the table for the rest of the season. Will BHS prove themselves a true title contender and challenge the defending champs, or will CVU separate themselves from the pack? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CVU's well-oiled machine is operated by <strong>5'10 2024 G Elise Berger</strong>, a stout ballhandler with excellent court vision and care for the rock. Her running mate, <strong>5'8 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='584222' first='Zoey' last='McNabb'],</strong> compliments Berger well with her ability to knock down jumpers off Berger's drives and handle the rock against ball pressure. Moreover, these two are vital to CVU's defensive effort as they utilize quickness and size to damper opposing backcourts. <strong>5'9</strong> <strong>2024 [player_tooltip player_id='654918' first='Merrill' last='Jacobs']</strong> and <strong>6'0 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='446538' first='Samara' last='Ashooh']</strong> pair up to make a formidable frontcourt chock full of heady offense, shooting, and hardnosed defense. Off the bench comes <strong>6'1 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='645603' first='Lauren' last='Vaughan']</strong>, a versatile W/F who covers a lot of ground in a brief amount of time, and <strong>5'6 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='649635' first='Neveah' last='Parrish']</strong>, a savvy senior guard who orchestrates this team to a tee. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the other hand, BHS is fully loaded with talent. <strong>5'10 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='645653' first='Atika' last='Haji']</strong> and <strong>5'9 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='579538' first='Rosa' last='Kori']</strong> returned from Rice, bringing versatile size defensively and some offensive firepower, especially Haji, who can create and finish at each level. The spine of BHS has been <strong>5'7 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='450194' first='Bree' last='McDonald']</strong>, <strong>5'9 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='645616' first='Nylah' last='Mitchell']</strong>, and<strong> 5'4 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='630313' first='Dieuna' last='Beynonn']</strong>. <strong>Bree's </strong>offensive creation is top tier and <strong>Dieuna</strong> adds tough slashing + smart orchestration while <strong>Nylah</strong> greases the offense with her passing, rebounding and second chance opportunities. To round out the rotation, <strong>5'9 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='645785' first='Hawa' last='Mubarak']</strong> is back in the line-up, an athletic two-way player. And <strong>5'7 2027 Emma Maley</strong>, a smart scorer who can heat up quickly. BHS has a lot of pieces but I'm wondering if they've put it all together yet.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CVU's chemistry and discipline on both ends will certainly make things tough on this BHS team that's still gelling. I got CVU coming out on top, but I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to the wire. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->