BARRE, Vt. — With Thetford Academy celebrating its 200th school year, the girls and boys basketball teams have both brought home VPA Division III championships.
One week after the Panther girls defeated Oxbow in the Division III finals, the TA boys held up their end of the bargain with a thrilling defeat of Williamstown, 73-64, on Saturday at Barre Auditorium.
No. 3 Thetford overcame a 12-point first-quarter deficit to march back against No. 1 Williamstown (18-5). The Panthers improved to 17-5 en route to claiming their first title since 2004 and fourth overall.
TA hit 18-of-18 free throws down the stretch, keeping the ever-dangerous Blue Devils at bay.
TA and Williamstown met twice during the regular season with both winning on the road. TA won, 69-38, on Jan. 4. Williamstown won, 59-48, on Jan. 30.
The Blue devils jumped out to a 16-4 lead and five first-quarter 3-pointers to Thetford’s none.
It looked like it could be a landslide, but TA held its ground and gradually chipped away at the deficit. The rims at the Aud were kinder to the Panthers in the second quarter, when they knocked down four 3s, including Jake Colby’s first-half buzzer-beater. The deep shot gave TA its first lead of the night at 28-27.
Colby, one of three senior starters, was a major factor in the game, finishing with 22 points and drawing two charges. Carter Blain (seven points) also drew a key offensive charge for Thetford down the stretch.
Colby, a Chelsea High transfer, produced tremendous bookends for his lone season at Thetford, scoring 20 points in the opener against Rivendell in December and topping that total by two in the season finale. Somewhere in between, he reached the career 1,000-point mark.
Junior Alex Emerson scored 20 for TA, sophomore Eli Dunnet scored 14 and senior Owen Deffner chipped in 10.
The Blue Devils had an amazing performance from Jacob Tassie, who finished with a game high 25 points on seven 3-pointers and would not let his team fade away. Tyler Orton scored 14, Ryan O’Neill 12 and Colby Gingras 11.
Williamstown extended its streak of eight consecutive appearances in the state championship game. Coach Jack Currier won his 200th game in Thursday’s semifinal win over Peoples. He has presided over a dominant decade that has included eight straight trips to the title game. Williamstown has nine championships overall.
Thetford has built something special. Jason Gray was a varsity assistant and the head JV coach for three years prior to taking over the varsity job for the 2016-17 season. The Panthers managed five wins his first campaign, then the turnaround came quickly. Gray’s squad made it to Barre last year, losing by four points to eventual champion, Windsor, before this year’s title run.
Gray graduated in 2009 with four trips to the Aud under his belt — two semifinal losses, two finals losses, but no championship. He went on to Lyndon State College as a dominant post player, eclipsing the 1,300-point plateau, as he did in high school.
Saturday was the first time in history that the Thetford boys and girls won a title in the same year. It was also the 25th anniversary of TA’s first boys basketball championship and the 15th anniversary of their latest title in ’04. TA improved in 4-5 in state finals all-time, adding to championships in ’94, ’02 and ’04.
Notes: Thetford defeated No. 2 Hazen in one semifinal with Williamstown taking down No. 4 Peoples in the other matchup. … Multiple Thetford starters were under the weather this past week at the tail end of a long season, but the starting lineup was unaffected. … Williamstown hit 13 3-pointers and finished 4-of-5 from the free throw line. TA hit eight shots from downtown and went 23-for-25 from the foul line. … TA will graduate Colby, Deffner, Blain, Tony Pippin, Ethan Steingas and Seth Boyce.