Windsor
Next up for the Jacks is a semifinal game on Thursday in the Barre Auditorium against No. 4 Winooski, which ousted No. 5 Williamstown on Friday night.
After a less-than-impressive first quarter, Windsor (19-3) showed why it’s the top seed in the tourney by outscoring the Hornets, 34-11, over the middle two periods.
“We played 20 minutes of solid basketball,” Windsor coach Bruce Mackay said.
Those 20 minutes did not include much of the first quarter, which saw Windsor trailing, 5-4, with 3:12 left. The Jacks awoke to score the final six points of the quarter, and they were on their way from there.
“Once we got started, everything started to click,” Windsor senior Ashleay Wilcox said. “The shots started to drop, and the defense kicked in.”
Added Mackay: “There are times when you miss four or five in a row, and there are times when you make four or five in a row.”
The Hornets had their troubles. After making the 133-mile trip south to Windsor, Enosburg (11-11) struggled not only from the field, but also from the free-throw line (nine first-half misses) and in the turnover department, giving the basketball away time and time again.
“This has been a typical game for us,” Enosburg coach Garry Geddes said. “We’ve had problems taking care of the ball.”
Geddes said he had Windsor pretty well scouted and knew he had to keep on eye on senior Wilcox and freshman Olivia Rockwood. The duo was kept in check for a while, but as the game progressed both Windsor scorers began filling the net.
Wilcox ended up with 17 points and Rockwood 14. Anika Abrahamsen, who has been a leading rebounder all year for the Jacks, grabbed eight caroms on Friday night.
“You know you can make excuses like the long trip and whatever, but we just didn’t execute,” Geddes said. “We had plenty of shots, but we couldn’t put the ball in the basket. I think we panicked under the Windsor pressure. And the foul shooting; we were something like 5-for-18 in the first half.”
Windsor followed the last six points of the opening quarter with the first six points of the second quarter to take a 16-5 lead. Geddes called a timeout three times in the stanza, but nothing could slow the Jacks on their way to a 25-13 edge at the half.
Enosburg, which moves to Division II next year, has only three seniors. Two started but didn’t score. The top point-getter was junior Bri Severance with six points.
“This has been an awesome night,” said Wilcox, who has the chance of being on two state championship teams at two different schools in the same school year. She played on the state champion Springfield field hockey team when Windsor failed to have enough players to field a team.
“It’s off to Barre now, where anything can happen,” Mackay said.
The semifinal game with Winooski will start at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.