BARRE, Vt. — The Hartford High girls’ basketball team proved why they say defense wins championships — locking down Lamoille High to pick up a 37-20 title-clinching win in the VPA Division II State Final at Barre Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
The championship marks the Hurricanes’ first since 2012, and their second in program history.
“These kids are just great kids — we worked so hard all year,” said Canes’ Head Coach Steve Landon, who led the 2012 championship team, in his first stint coaching Hartford girls’ hoops.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am for these kids and for our program and how well they played today,” Landon said. “I’m so lucky — I have awesome assistants, they do all their work, and I just have great kids.”
Landon, who returned to coaching the girls in 2023, added he was grateful to Athletic Director Jeff Moreno for bringing him back to head the program.
While the No. 2 seed Canes’ defense, which held the No.1 seed, previously unbeaten, Lancers, to just 10 second-half points — none of which came in the fourth quarter — was vital to seal the win, they had some solid offensive contributions too.
Senior Charlotte Jasmin, who became the fifth girl in state history to hit 2,000 career points against Spaulding on Feb. 27, led the Canes in scoring with 12 points. Senior Hailey Vanasse, who came up clutch against Milton in the semifinals earlier this week, continued her strong postseason, adding 11 points.
“We’re a close team, I mean, we got really close this year, and I think it feels so good to finally be like, we’re all in, and we just got it done,” Jasmin said.
The duo of Jasmin and Vanasse kick-started the Canes’ offense, combining for nine of their squad’s 12 first-quarter points. The Lancers mustered just two buckets in the frame and found themselves trailing 12-4 by the end of it.
Hartford would carry its eight-point lead into halftime at a score of 18-10 after it slowed down a bit offensively.
The Lancers started to chip away at their deficit in the third quarter as the Canes’ offense went cold. Lamoille senior Ava Baisley scored five unanswered to pull within three.
Hartford finally got on the board, just over five minutes into the frame, on a Jasmin layup to go up 20-15. As the teams traded baskets, Lamoille hit a three with 1:25 remaining in the third to cut their deficit to four.
That bucket, which happened to be the last points the Lancers would score the remainder of the contest, was immediately answered by Vanasse, who hit a layup, while being fouled, and sank the subsequent free throw.
Leading 27-20 to begin the fourth quarter, the Canes kicked the defense up a notch, eight minutes away from a championship.
“We watched a lot of film,” Jasmin said of the championship-clinching defense. “We realized they didn’t play against a zone all season, really, I mean, they played against two teams, and that’s our strength, we’re just long, we’re lengthy.”
Landon, who said he was not surprised by what his team did defensively, later added, “Our whole shelf is built on defense.”
Jasmin hit a layup under a minute into the fourth to put her squad up nine, and freshman Lucy Crowley hit a three with 2:51 remaining to increase the lead to 32-20. Vanasse, freshman Natalie Clark, and Jasmin went on to hit free throws late to put the game out of reach.
As the Canes celebrated their title, their bench boss emphasized that it’s going to take a little while to sink in.
“They’re like my daughters — and I don’t have any — so I’m not sure I’m going to be able to put that into words for a couple of days,” Landon said.