It must feel nice to control your own destiny, especially for the Castleton women’s basketball.Heading into this past weekend’s pair of home games, head coach Tim Barrett and the Spartans were in a tight battle with Becker College for first place in the North Atlantic Conference’s West Division.

Castleton played Bay Path in the first game, and jumped out to a more than comfortable 43-10 halftime lead. Sophomore guard Jess Banks finished with a team-high 15 points in the 82-43 victory.

Freshman Katie Hoxsie came off the bench to score 14 points, while Mary Nienow and Carley Amedore chipped in with 13 apiece.

Castleton would complete the sweep with a 77-59 win over Lesley University. The Spartans led 39-27 at the half, but opened up their lead thanks to Nienow’s 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

Amedore posted her first double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Banks scored 16 points, sophomore LeAnne Ketchen added 15 and senior Jenn Goff had 12.

The Lady Spartans, 15-7 overall and 12-4 in the NAC, have a two-and-a-half-game division lead over Becker.

Castleton closes the regular season at home against Becker on Friday and Elms College Saturday.

Men’s Basketball

Junior guard Rich Reilly and senior forward Jeremy Jorgensen guided the Castleton men to a successful week while achieving individual milestones.

Jorgensen broke the all-time rebounding record Saturday against Lesley, surpassing Mike Whiting’s (’75) previous total of 840.

He entered the game tied with Whiting, but grabbed nine boards to seal his place in Castleton history.

Reilly reached the 1,000 point plateau in an 80-63 win over Johnson State last Tuesday after scoring 20 points.

“When I came here my freshman year, my personal goal was to score 1,000 points,” he said. “It was cool when it happened; the game was stopped and both teams congratulated me.”

The Spartans defeated Lyndon State 90-83, and avenged a previous loss to Lesley with a dominant 90-69 win.

Jorgenson scored 24 points and Reilly added 21 to go along with seven assists against Lyndon State. Kevin Cayea came off the bench to score 13 points and Joey Farley chipped in 10.

In the win over Lesley, Reilly led the Spartans with 23 points and Jorgenson finished with 19. Sophomore Josh Howe had 18 points and Farley added 16.

Castleton, 12-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference, will host Becker on Friday and Elms Saturday in the season-finale.