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Windsor edges Thetford, 53-50

By Christopher Shaban

Eagle Times sports
WINDSOR — It’s no secret that Windsor and Thetford are two of the premier teams in D3 that have battled each other pretty evenly over the last few years and Saturday was no different.

With a good crowd filling the Windsor gym and the flu sweeping through the Yellow Jackets, Evelyn Page’s jumper started Windsor in the right direction but that wouldn’t last long. Thetford was feeling it in the first half and jumped out to a 28-20 lead at the break. Turnovers and a red hot Kelsey Smith made life miserable for Windsor with hoops to close out both quarters including a kiss off the glass three pointer.

Windsor was a tired-looking team as Thetford ran off nine unanswered points in the second quarter as the visitors were the quicker, more aggressive team. Morgan Mckeen and Adi Prior’s offense kept Windsor within striking distance during the half.

“In the locker room at halftime, we knew that we could play better and coach Bruce MacKay told us we were still in it,” said Windsor’s Prior. “We made a few adjustments and played our game in the second half.”

Whatever medicine coach MacKay gave his team during halftime worked wonders as the Yellow Jackets lit it up for 20 third quarter points to tie the game at 40-40. Olivia Rockwood, who has been sick and missed practices for the last few days, scored 8 of her game high 13 points in the quarter after only hitting a single bucket in very limited action in the first half. Windsor’s 10-2 blitz put the visitors back on their heels.

“These games are always a battle and today was no different, I give Windsor credit, they overcame a lot today for the win,” said Thetford coach Eric Ward, who knew of the sickness hitting Windsor before the game.

The forth quarter iss when a team’s character shows, and Windsor rose to the top today. Angelina Bigwood’s hoop gave Windsor the lead as Elliot Rupp and Rockwood out-dueled Emma Colby’s three point barrage during the next 3 minutes. With the score tied 47-47 midway into the final quarter, sophomore Reese Perry’s inside bucket gave Windsor the lead for good 49-47, as her work on both ends of the court today sealed the breakout game of her young career.

“This team showed lots of heart today, there was so many kids just not feeling well, but they all came together grabbed a win against a good Thetford squad,” said Windsor’s McKay. “We took care of the ball much better in the second half, limited their fast break opportunities and took charge under the glass.”

In the paint it was the 10th grader for Windsor that may have had the biggest heart. Perry would drop in 6 points late in the game, including a huge offensive rebound and put-back to give the Yellow Jackets a 53-47 lead with under a minute left. A late three pointer from Grace Davis would cut the lead to 53-50, but a turnover by Thetford during the Windsor press with less than 10 seconds left ended any chance of overtime and improved Windsor’s record to 2-0 on the season.

“It was only our second game but it feels good to win, this team overcame so much today and it shows the character that these players have,” said Windsor’s Bigwood after the game.

Rockwood would lead all scores today with 13 points while Perry added 9, Peyton Richardson and Rupp would end up with 7 points each and Bigwood would chip in with 6 points. Colby led Thetford with 11 points.

In JV action Thetford downed Windsor 44-29 but the story was all about sportsmanship. The Windsor teams have been fighting the flu all week and they started the 4th quarter with only 4 players on the court and when one of those remaining players fouled out, JV coach Kabray Rockwood was forced to go with 3 only players. Thetford’s coach Jeff Vaughn opted to pull a player off the court at that time in a true class act move.

“The coach asked me if he could take a player off and I told him he didn’t have to but he did anyhow,” said official Jamie Richardson. At the end of the game, there was a great show of respect from the large crowd with an extended period of applause.

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