BARRE, Vt. โ The Windsor High girlsโ basketball team is one win away from repeating as Division III state champions after routing Oxbow High, 69-44, in a semifinal matchup on Thursday night at Barre Auditorium.
When the teams played in last seasonโs state championship game, it was decided by three points.
But this time around in a postseason rematch, the No. 2 seed Yellow Jackets didnโt let the No. 3 seed Olympians come close.
In what was a balanced offensive attack for the defending champions, junior Callie Spaulding paced the scoring with 14 points. Freshman Addison Crane, who had 12 points, and seniors Cassie Clark and Kemari Wildgoose, who each added 10 points, were the other Jacks to score in double figures.
While Windsorโs offense was working, what really stood out was its defense. The Jacksโ were so stifling that, at times, it was a challenge for Oxbow to even inbound the ball.
โThey played inspired,โ said Windsor Head Coach Kabray Rockwood of his teamโs performance. โHad a slow start, but then we got our defense really cooking, and we were flying all over the place, made it really hard for them to get into their offensive flow.โ
Rockwood referenced it โ there was a slow start for both squads. The contestโs first points did not come until the 5:20 mark of the first quarter on a layup from Oxbow senior Makenna Houston.
Spaulding got Windsorโs first points of the game on a three-pointer. Her shot was quickly followed by a Crane floater to give the Jacks a 5-4 lead โ a lead they would not surrender for the rest of the game.
Windsor went on a 16-2 run to end the first period with a 16-6 lead.
Things didnโt get any better for the Olympians in the second quarter. They were held scoreless for almost seven minutes in the frame as Windsor built on its lead.
Oxbow ended up scoring just five points in the quarter, and the Jacks went into halftime with a 29-11 lead.
At the half, Rockwood emphasized to his team that they had to finish โ pointing to Wednesdayโs Division II girlsโ basketball semifinal matchup between Hartford and Milton that saw the Hurricanes nearly blow a 21-point fourth quarter lead.
โWe definitely were watching the game last night,โ Rockwood said. โWe talked about that at halftime โ how a team is not out of it in this gym. This place does things to you, the crowd gets into it, you start losing your head a little bit, so I wanted to make sure that we maintained our composure.โ
The Jacks appeared to get their bench bossโ message, as Windsorโs lead was never in any real danger in the second half.
Standing in the way of a Windsor repeat is Hazen, the squad that defeated the Jacks in the 2024 finals. The Wildcats finished the regular season 17-2 and are the No. 1 seed. The teams did not meet in the regular season.
โWhoever doesnโt let this building get to them when things get tough is probably going to be the team that wins,โ Rockwood said. โWe know each other pretty well, and we respect the hell out of them and are looking forward to a good battle.โ
The Division III state championship is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. back at the Aud.
