BARRE, Vt. — The Hartford High girls’ basketball team survived a late surge from Milton High and punched its ticket to the VPA Division II state championship, defeating the Yellow Jackets, 42-39, in a semifinal bout at Barre Auditorium on Wednesday night.
Trailing by 21 points headed into the fourth quarter, Milton went on a 21-1 run in the frame to cut their deficit to one point with just under 40 seconds left.
Seemingly poised to pull off the miracle comeback, the No. 3 seed Yellow Jackets were thwarted by Hurricanes’ senior Hailey Vanasse, who came up clutch for No. 2 seed Hartford
Vanasse, who had a team-high 21 points on the night, hit a layup with under 30 seconds remaining to put the No. 2 seed Canes up 42-39.
She followed that up with a huge steal in the contest’s waning seconds to end the Yellow Jackets’ comeback threat.
“The last thing I wanted was for them to get up a shot,” Vanasse said of her game-icing defense. “I was just like, I’m going to take them out early, use my length as much as I can.”
Hartford Head Coach Steve Landon credited Milton for its second-half adjustments, which set up Wednesday night’s furious finish.
“They’re really friggin’ good,” Landon said of the Yellow Jackets, who lost just two games in the regular season. “(Milton head coach Liz Bushey) made some adjustments at halftime that I didn’t really know what to do with — that’s just the way it worked.”
Outside of Vanasse’s offensive contributions, the Canes got help in the scoring department from senior Charlotte Jasmin, who had nine points, freshman Lucy Crowley, who had eight points, and freshman Natalie Clark, who added four points.
After a feeling-out period between the squads to start the first quarter, Hartford got to work building on its lead, thanks in large part to Vanasse, who had 11 points in the frame.
“My teammates trust me, working hard together,” Vanasse said. “It feels great to get that many points up … trusting myself, getting them up, making them.”
The Canes finished the first quarter with an 18-10 lead. But the second quarter featured just eight total points between both teams as neither could find a way to get the ball to drop.
Coming out of halftime with a 23-13 lead, the Canes started to pull away. Hartford’s shots started to fall and stifling defense made things challenging for the Yellow Jackets.
By the end of the third frame, the Canes led 39-18 and looked like they would cruise to a win. But the fourth quarter was anything but a joyride for Hartford.
The Yellow Jackets scored 13 unanswered to start the frame, and the Canes didn’t get their first point until four minutes in on a free-throw from Jasmin.
With the score at 40-31, Milton scored another eight points unanswered before Vanasse heroics in the final minute.
“We just held on,” Landon said, adding, “I’m proud of the kids.”
Hartford’s victory earns them a date with No. 1 seed Lamoille, which is unbeaten this season. The squads did not meet in the regular season.
Landon said his team needs to shoot better in the final to prevail.
“We missed so many layups tonight — wide open layups; we can’t do that if we’re going to beat Lamoille,” he said.
The VPA Division II state championship tips off on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. at the Aud in Barre.