LBI leads rec league

MEXICO -- In Mountain Valley Rec Basketball League play, last year's champion Laid Back Installers gained an advantage in the battle for first place, as Hotel Rumford wore out the Bethel Bobcats.

LBI (8-1) won by forfeit against The Thundercats (0-9) and took a one-game lead over Hotel Rumford and Bethel, who are both 7-2.

An undermanned Black Bear Industries (3-6) played slow down ball and controlled Archies (2-7) by 67-59. Army Veteran Corey Provencher paced BBI with 26 points and was supported by Craig Jacques with 17 points, while Kevin Prevost and Dave Hodgkins contributed 11 each. Archies got double-digit efforts from Brett Archibauld with 17 points, Isaac Roberts with 11 points and Jerrod Chessie with 10.

The big match up was Bethel and Hotel Rumford in a collision course. The game was faced paced and aggressive from the start with the Hotel using their poise to pull away with a convincing 92-72 victory. Bethel had won the first contest earlier in the year with a spirited victory, but their spirits were dulled with a strong performance by Andy Shorey, Jr., who controlled the boards, was a defensive stopper and also contributed a strong 20 points from inside. Aaron St Pierre led with 31 points, including 5 threes. The Hotel also got great support from Kevin Gallant (15 points, 5 threes), Craig Milledge (13 points and a solid floor game) and Scot New (12 points off the bench). Bethel's Sean Caddigan and Matt Zetts led their team with 16 points each and Ryan Savage was next with 10.

Sunday has another great match up with LBI and Bethel playing at 11:30 a.m., preceded by Archies and Hotel Rumford at 10, with the Thundercats and Black Bear Industries at 1 p.m.