By Tom Haley
Staff Writer
PROCTOR, Vt. — It was a heck of a boys high school basketball game with Proctor leading much of the way. Windsor and Proctor were tied as late as the fourth quarter, but the Yellow Jackets owned the game down the stretch by beating Proctor at its own game and left the Almo Buggiani Gym with a 70-53 victory.
“They out scrapped us at the end. They played our game better than we did. They sped us up and we turned the ball over,” said Proctor coach Alex Carrier who was standing in for Jake Eaton.
The Yellow Jackets looked as though they were going to get away from Proctor when they carved out a 16-point lead (30-14) in the second quarter.
“Give Proctor credit. They came back,” Windsor coach Harry Ladue said.
They fought all the way back. Jacob Patch scored inside and then he kissed a shot off the glass from 15 feet. Levi Petit made a floater in the lane and the Phantoms had pulled themselves into a 33-3 tie.
There was a big swing at the end of the half. The Phantoms were looking to extend their lead by taking the clock down to the final seconds. Instead, they turned it over and Maison Fortin beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to send the Jacks into the locker room with a 36-35 lead.
The teams shot the lights out at the half, literally and figuratively. A shot knocked out light on the celing askew but Glenn Carter and Andre Greb used a giant stepladder to remedy the situation during halftime.
It was the Phantoms who seemed poised to get away from the Jacks in the third quarter. Carter Crossmon nailed a 3-pointer to put Proctor into the lead and then Bryson Bourn drove for a hoop to 40-36.
Fortin answered for the Jacks with a fast-break layup but Patch connected on a 15-footer and Bourn drove hard to the hoop for the layup that lengthened the lead to six, 44-38.
The Phantoms found Joel Denton alone under the hoop and he put it through to tie the score at 51-51.
That would be the last time the Phantoms would be even.
Austin Gauld scored inside to give the Jackets the lead for good and they rolled from there.
Kaleb Swett scored off a gorgeous feed from Fortin and then Gauld got a hoop with a power move inside. Suddenly, the Jacks were in command, 60-51.
Fortin riddled the Phantom with 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 27 points.
Fortin said the small floor was an adjustment for the Jacks.
“It was hard for us with the small court and the way that they pressed us,” Fortin said.
“When we went in at halftime, we made a lot of adjustments.”
It was the Jacks who were rattled, though, for much of the first half.
“We finally settled down,” Ladue said.
Following Fortin in scoring for the Jacks were Gauld and Caleb Buchanan with 13 apiece.
Petit had 15 points to lead the Phantoms. Bourn followed with 14, Crossmon added 10 and Denton seven.
The Jacks lifted their record to 3-2 and the Phantoms absorbed their first loss in three games.
The Phantoms are off until Jan. 7 when they travel to Poultney.
tom.haley @rutlandherald.com
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