NEWPORT, Vt. — Falcons fly. It’s what they do.
Second-ranked North Country raced out of the gate to score 10 of the game’s first 12 points on Tuesday night, using that early cushion for a 55-47 win over No. 6 Hartford in a VPA Division II girls basketball semifinal. The senior-laden Falcons, with senior forward Riann Fortin serving as focal point, earned their first state title game opportunity with the victory, one they’ll attempt to cash on Saturday at Barre Auditorium.
North Country (9-2) put the Hurricanes (7-5) on their heels with the early charge, but the visitors did well to stay in the game throughout. Unfortunately, every time third-year coach Heidi Bushway saw her crew clip the Falcons’ wings, North Country simply found a way to fly higher.
“We tried to go into a zone and they hit the three, so we went man-to-man,” Bushway said. “(They) just hit the shots they didn’t hit on any of the games we watched.”
Hartford came out in a 2-3 zone to start. It played right into the Falcons’ claws.
Using Fortin at the high post, North Country quickly worked the ball in to the big senior, then out to open shooters who couldn’t seem to miss. Adrianna Chaput (11 points) buried the first of her three 3-pointers on the night to start the run and capped the 10-2 opener with another, forcing a quick Hartford timeout.
The other key early moment: North Country drew two fouls from Hartford point guard Jasmine Jenkins in the first 70 seconds, sending the Canes’ calming presence to the bench early. The Falcons led the rest of the night.
“We definitely wanted to come out and be aggressive to begin with and try to set the pace right off the bat,” first-year North Country coach Sarah Roy said. “I was pleased that we were able to do that. We talked about how it’s a game of runs and we can withstand a little bit of a run, but we need to be aggressive and take control of our offense.”
The hosts stuck five trifectas to build a 20-10 lead after one quarter. Throughout the night, however, Fortin was clearly the person in charge for the Falcons.
She scored seven of her game-high 24 points in the opening period on a 3-pointer, a putback and a layup. She proved deft at working quick passes to open players. And when North Country needed a boost, she usually provided it.
“When other teams go on a run, we seem to lose track on what we do well,” Roy said. “It was really important that we focus on that.”
Calmed from the early onslaught, Hartford kept North Country in sight largely through the play of junior Beth Dobrich. The forward scored all 10 of the Canes’ first quarter points and was a force on the boards all evening.
“Beth played amazing; that was her best game,” said Bushway of Dobrich, who led Hartford with 16 points. “She came to play. We told them to leave it all out there, work hard. We’re taller than them, so we posted up for her. She just worked hard. She played a great game today.”
However, after Hartford held the Falcons to just five second-quarter points to remain with 25-16 at the half, Fortin got the home team going again. She followed a Chaput miss with a putback and scored in transition after a McKenna Marsh rebound to open the third period and get North Country’s lead back to double digits.
When Jenkins scored five points of an 8-0 run to get Hartford back to within 29-23, Fortin answered in kind. Two Fortin layups alternated with two Marsh hoops to erase the Canes’ gains. Fortin added two more buckets to close the third period, leaving North Country in control of a 43-28 advantage.
A basket from Marsh (nine points) and a 3-pointer from sophomore Cora Nadeau (eight points) pushed the lead to 20 points, too much for a more composed group of Canes who played the Falcons even — except for those first three minutes when they soared over everything and everyone.
“We had a great season,” Bushway said. “It was a difficult season for the girls with COVID, not having any fans, things getting changed up. I thought they played their hearts out.”
Free Throws: Hartford was making its deepest VPA tournament run in eight years. … Despite the early fouls, Jenkins finished with eight points for the Canes, who got five each from Bailey Cameron, Emily Wright and Davan Murphy. … The Falcons are in just their second D-II season after life in D-I. They lost all three previous semifinal trips, to Essex in 1996, CVU in 2018 and Harwood last year. … Hartford graduates Jenkins, Cameron and Murphy.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.