Windsor
Slocum, a sophomore who has spent much of the winter as Windsor’s sixth man, was happy to finally get his chance but couldn’t help but feel sad to replace someone as vital as senior captain A.J. Wood, who is out for the rest of the season with a broken wrist.
That hasn’t stopped him from making the most of the opportunity.
Slocum made his presence felt in Friday’s 47-31 win over Woodstock, as he dropped a game- and career-high 17 points and added nine steals as the Yellowjackets (7-8) stretched their late-season surge to six wins in their last seven games.
“I think I fit in with them,” said Slocum, who was on junior varsity last season and scored nine points on Wednesday in his first start, a 78-32 win over Leland & Gray. “I played with some of the guys last year, and then coming up through, we’ve been playing together for a little while now.
“Wood helped us a lot on offense and on defense, taking control of the ball, controlling the game,” he added. “Now I have to take his place.”
Inside men Ben Meagher and Adam Stapleton combined for 14 points for the Yellowjackets, who started the season in a 1-7 slump in the wake of heavy turnover from last season’s D-III semifinal run. Junior Duncan Frazer netted six.
But Slocum provided the hammer midway through the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers 1 minute, 14 seconds apart from the same spot just outside the right arc in front of the Windsor student section. The buckets were part of an 18-0 run in a seven-minute span of the third and fourth quarters that gave the Yellowjackets an insurmountable lead.
“(Slocum’s) a good player, and he plays hard,” Jacks coach Harry Ladue said. “He gives it to you every day in practice. It doesn’t surprise me, anything he does.”
Windsor hasn’t lost since Jan. 28 and is within a game of .500 for the first time since Dec. 20, a 49-43 loss to Hazen that started a seven-game skid that lasted nearly a month. But Ladue’s team has found its confidence.
“We played some real good teams (in the first half of the season),” Ladue said. “We’ve been getting better every day. We’ve been getting better every day in practice. And we’re getting a little bit older. Our young guys are getting confidence now. The guys that have been here have just been steady.
“We’re confident,” he added. “But I think we can play better.”
Woodstock never had a lead on Friday and dropped to 6-9 after its third straight loss. Junior forward Caleb Webb had a team-high 11 points and senior guard Jake Arthur finished with 10.
Woodstock’s first-year head coach, Joel Carey, said his team’s biggest weakness was inaccurate shooting down the stretch. But turnovers didn’t help, either. Windsor finished the game with 14 steals, five in the first quarter, and had 24 offensive rebounds, turning many offensive sequences into a shooting gallery on Woodstock’s basket.
“We had some issues shooting, finishing,” Carey said. “I think we were 10 for 30-something tonight.
“They crashed hard. They hustled,” he added. “They out-hustled us tonight.”
Windsor led, 25-16, at the half, topped off by a give-and-go to a wide-open Seth Balch under the Woodstock hoop with five seconds to go in the first half.
But the Wasps found life with a 7-0 run five minutes into the third, thanks to five points from Arthur and a layup by Gabe Marsicovetere. Ladue called a timeout to settle his troops. Windsor responded with five points of its own to finish the third up, 33-25.
“Defensively, we played a hell of a game tonight,” Ladue said. “We just did a good job with their best players. That’s where it starts, defense and rebounds. Then we make a few shots and get some separation.”
Windsor hosts Hartford on Tuesday with a chance to get back to .500 against an opponent it lost to, 53-45, on Jan. 6. If Slocum and his teammates want to prove that they’re a different group 39 days later, a rematch against the Hurricanes is their chance.
“Our confidence is building,” Slocum said. “Every day we’re getting better. It’s a work in progress. In the beginning of the season, we were young going up against some good competition. Now we’re getting better as a group.”
Woodstock travels to Mill River on Monday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.