BARRE, Vt. — Wearing opponents down has been the Windsor High girls basketball team’s modus operandi all season long.
So when the top-seeded Yellowjackets found themselves down by down by nine in the second quarter of Saturday night’s VPA Division III state title game against No. 3 seed Lake Region, panicking was the furthest thing from their minds.
The Yellowjackets doubled up the Rangers in the second half for a 37-30 victory at Barre Auditorium, bringing home their first state championship since 2018.
After halftime, Windsor (21-2) got back to doing what it does best — getting the ball down low on offense and applying pressure in the frontcourt on defense.
“Our execution was good (in the first half), the ball just wasn’t falling,” Windsor head coach Kabray Rockwood said. “In the second half, we had better positioning and we were able to exploit our size, get the ball inside and finish.”
The Perry sisters — senior forward Reese and sophomore forward Sydney — combined for 26 points. Reese scored 12 of her game-high 16 in the second half, but it was the younger sister who kept the Yellowjackets in it early, with seven of Windsor’s 13 first-half points.
“It’s amazing to think that playing in the backyard with my little sister (led) to this,” Reese Perry said. “I love her to death, so I like to see her succeed, and it’s crazy to think that next year, it’s going to be her team. It makes me feel good.”
The elder Perry finally got to break out her plethora of post moves in the third quarter, when she sparked the Yellowjackets’ run that put them in front for the first time all night. Perry scored Windsor’s first six points of the second half, and even stepped out of the post to hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point line late in the quarter to give her team the lead.
Senior guard Peyton Richardson, who had seen her scoring production dip considerably in the second half of the season, helped the Yellowjackets seal the deal with a pair of huge 3-pointers in the fourth that pushed Windsor’s lead from one to seven.
Richardson, Perry and fellow senior starter Karen Kapuscinski had helped the Yellowjackets win their third consecutive field hockey state title in the fall.
“Having that pressure and that experience has helped us come out and not be as nervous,” Richardson said.
Windsor also put the clamps on Lake Region star Sakoya Sweeney, who had 24 points in the Rangers’ victory over the Yellowjackets on Jan. 22. Sweeney got off to a hot start in the title game, with two quick baskets and an assist as Lake Region scored the game’s first six points. But she had to sit for much of the second quarter after picking up her second foul, and Windsor largely took her away upon her return.
The Jacks successfully avenged both of their regular-season losses, beating Division I member Brattleboro three weeks after losing to the Colonels and getting revenge on Lake Region on the biggest possible stage.
Windsor’s five senior starters — Elliot Rupp and Holly Putnam, in addition to Perry, Richardson and Kapuscinski — saw the Yellowjackets win a championship the year before they got to high school, and now, they’re going out on top.
“It’s tremendous,” Rockwood said. “I feel like our team is the best team in the state, and we had the opportunity to prove that tonight.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.