Windsor
And as usual, the catalyst was junior Olivia Rockwood, who had three first-period points on Tuesday night — and finished with 35. In one stretch in the fourth quarter, she had seven points in 49 seconds.
There are an incredible number of banners on the walls at the Windsor gym. Still, they found room for the latest banner as a big cheer was heard as the banner was raised.
“It was good to relive last season once again,” said Brooke McKeen, a member of last year’s state championship squad and the only senior on this season’s team. “I’d like to get another one.”
While the victory was comfortable at the end, it was a scramble at the beginning, as nobody scored until the 4:47 mark of the first quarter on a put-back by Hartford junior Carol North and the period ended with Windsor up, 6-4, on a Rockwood drive with two seconds to go.
While Hartford has had a tough season at 2-9, the Hurricanes, under first-year coach Heidi Bushway, came into the game winning two of their last three.
“I knew we had to have our A game here, and a B game was just not good enough,” Bushway said. “I think we gave them a scare early and played good defense all night.”
Apparently they did, because long after the gym had just about cleared out, Windsor coach Bruce Mackay was still in the locker room with his players.
“I know we started slow, but we finished strong,” McKeen said.
And that they did as the depth and talent started to show in the second quarter, as the Yellowjackets grew the lead to 25-14 at the break. Then things slowed down again; the play was sluggish in the third quarter as Hartford stayed within range at 32-21.
The fourth quarter was four minutes gone and the Hurricanes were still nibbling at 35-26 before Rockwood went on her tear as Windsor pulled away for its ninth win in 11 games.
While Rockwood had a big night, she was held in check by the solid defense of Hartford’s Jasmine Jenkins, who held the junior sensation to three points in the first quarter and four in the third. There was one shot she made in the second quarter where she stole the ball with her back to the basket, jumped, and as she turned around midflight, she dropped in a 3-pointer.
Maddie Withington, a freshman Hartford guard, was steady all night with 12 points. Sophomore Evelyn Page added seven to the Windsor total.
Newport comes to Windsor on Thursday, while Hartford hosts Otter Valley on the same night.