Barre, Vt.
That changed on Thursday night, as the top-seeded Yellowjackets defeated No. 5 Thetford, 52-48, in the D-III semis at Barre Auditorium. The win punches Windsor’s ticket to the state final for its 11th championship appearance in school history.
A third time, it seems, is the charm.
“We came into this season with a chip on our shoulder; we’ve had that since the beginning of the year,” Balch, a senior, said. “Losing in the semis the last few years, it leaves an awful taste in your mouth. We weren’t going to come back here and let that happen to us again.”
No. 1 Windsor will take on defending champion and No. 2 seed Williamstown in Saturday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils (20-3) defeated No. 6 BFA-Fairfax, 69-52, in the tournament’s other semifinal game to advance to their sixth straight D-III final. Williamstown has won six state titles since 2010, five in the last six years.
Thetford and Windsor faced each other twice in the regular season, splitting the series by a combined five points. Thursday’s encounter was their second postseason meeting in four years.
The game was tied for much of the first half as both teams traded punches; no team led by more than four points until the final minute of the second quarter. Thetford senior and 1,000-point scorer Dylan Thorburn had four steals that led to breakaway layups before halftime. Balch and Windsor big man Adam Stapleton answered with eight points each.
Then Windsor’s Hunter Grela came off the bench to provide a spark. He nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner with three seconds remaining in the half to send the Yellowjackets into the locker room with a 29-24 lead.
“Our matchups are really good,” Windsor coach Harry Ladue said of the similarities between the teams. “They’ve got a couple of stars, and they play hard.”
Thetford’s offense went cold for lengthy stretches in the second half, opening the door for Windsor to stretch its lead. The Panthers were 0-for-4 to start the third quarter and went scoreless for the opening 3 minutes, 53 seconds of the fourth.
Windsor, meanwhile, used its depth to build a cushion. Balch, Grela, Ben Meagher and Dakota Page combined for 15 of the Yellowjackets’ 17 points over the first 11:53 after intermission, establishing a 47-38 lead 4:07 to go.
Then Thetford came alive and went on a 12-3 run over the next 2:38 to cut Windsor’s lead to two points. Junior Owen Deffner scored six points and Alex Emerson netted four to put the Panthers back within striking distance, and Thetford was down by two points with a minute remaining and possession of the ball.
But Thetford senior Lawson Ouellette’s blind pass to the right corner missed everybody and went out of bounds with 52.9 seconds remaining to give the ball back to Windsor. Page hit two free throws with 49 seconds left to bring Windsor’s lead back to four.
Ouellette — a 3-point sharpshooter averaging 10 points per game this season — and Thetford freshman Eli Dunnet each missed 3s in the final seconds. Ouellette finished with 3 points in the loss on Thetford’s only field goal from behind the arc.
“We played probably the best basketball we’ve played in a long time,” Thetford coach Jason Gray said. “There are no Xs and Os that could have won that game. … I felt like we were ready to go, and we prepared as best we could. A couple turnovers, a couple missed bunnies, a couple missed free throws and it’s a different game.”
Added Ladue: “We started turning it over, and we started missing our shots. We had a chance to put it away. But give them credit, they made plays and we didn’t. They did enough to hang on.”
Deffner finished with a game-high 17 points for Thetford. Thorburn provided 14 points and Emerson scored seven. The Panthers finish their season 15-8 overall, falling in their first trip to the state semifinals since 2013. Thetford has not won a title since 2004, going 0-4 in championship games in that stretch.
Gray’s team graduates Thorburn, Ouellette, Dan Wells and exchange student Allen Wang, and returns a group of five players — Deffner, Ethan Steingas, Seth Boyce, Tony Pippin and Carter Blain — next winter.
“The boys never gave up,” Gray said. “I kept telling them, ‘Boys, don’t give up. Something can go your way at any moment.’ We fought back to within two. … I feel bad for the seniors, but they busted their butts all year long to get us here. Let’s face it: There’s only four teams that make it to Barre Auditorium. We had the four best teams in Division III.”
Windsor’s strength this season comes as much from its depth as its balanced attack. Slocum, Meagher, Balch and Stapleton are all providing the Yellowjackets with more than seven points per game headed into Saturday’s final.
Windsor’s contributions were the same in the semis. Balch finished the game with a team-leading 16 points, his best of the playoffs. Page scored 10 points, Stapleton added eight, all in the first half, and Slocum netted five.
The Jacks enter the championship riding a six-game winning streak since an eight-point loss to Woodstock on Feb. 20. They did not face Williamstown this winter but lost to the Blue Devils, 71-48, in last year’s semis. Windsor is 0-2 in playoff meetings with Williamstown over the last four seasons.
“We’ll be ready,” Ladue said. “We’ve seen Williamstown (a few times). We’ve had to meet Williamstown somewhere the last few years; they seem to win them all. We’ll try changing that on Saturday.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.