By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
WINDSOR, Vt. — It’s rare when a group of players grow up together and get to play in their Senior Game but that’s precisely what happened on Friday as five players shook off the emotions and grabbed another win as they look toward a trip to Barre in the hopes of a state title.
“This season has been incredible and to have your sister on the team makes this all the more special,” Elliot Rupp said.
Rupp was joined by Peyton Richardson, Reese Perry, Holly Putnam, and Karen Kapuscinski as the “Fab Five” all took turns being joined by their families at mid-court before the game started.
Maybe it was the spiffy new uniforms but Windsor had a weird first quarter then really turned it on over the next eight minutes as they outscored Woodstock 19-3 to open up a big 33-11 halftime lead. R Perry scored the first nine points of the game for the Yellow Jackets then the rest of the band jumped in before long.
“These players know what it takes to be successful,” said Windsor coach Kabray Rockwood. “Their work ethic is just unmatched.”
After opening the second quarter with all his starters on the bench, they returned midway into the quarter and things just went crazy. Richardson and Putnam were on missions and the pressure they applied to the Wasp guards was devastating. Woodstock suddenly couldn’t even get the ball past mid-court easily and that resulted in a resurgence of old fashion Windsor basketball. In the span of two minutes, five different Jack players scored a total of 13 points as the Windsor crowd was electric with restrictions lifted and the gym filling up.
With two sets of sisters on the team, success can be traced back to some intense one on one games in the driveways of Windsor.
“We play hard at home,” said freshman Audrey who both play soccer also. “Usually it stops when one of us starts crying but we are super competitive.”
The Perry sisters take it one step further and it sometimes ends when blood starts flowing.
“During quarantine, we didn’t just sit around. We played in our driveway and it was intense,” Reese said.
Reese could be arguably the best player in the state and it may come with a little push from her sister Sydney.
“We challenge each other all the time,” the sophomore said. “It doesn’t matter what it is, we love to compete.”
The Perry sisters were on the state championship field hockey teams of recent years and claim to have telepathy on their side.
“There are times when we just know what the other will do next,,” Reese said. “To have Sydney on the teams with me has been the best. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”
Rockwood began the second half with a bit of tinkering as he switched defenses on almost every trip down the court as it seems he is looking ahead to the next game and beyond as the Windsor lead kept swelling. With the game in hand, Rockwood began substituting his seniors out of the game one at a time during the final quarter with each getting great rounds of applause from the fans.
“These are some incredible players and people. They have great families who are nothing but supportive,” Rockwood said. “Success doesn’t happen in the game it’s all the hard work at the fairgrounds during the summer or at the camps, these players are gym rats who push themselves when nobody is watching.”
Windsor would close out the regular season with a 54-26 win and end with a 17-2 record. The Jacks should grab the No. 1 seed in Division III based on strength of schedule when pairings are announced on Monday.
Reese Perry would add another double double with 17 points and 17 rebounds while E. Rupp finished with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. S. Perry had seven points, seven rebounds. Richardson chipped in with four points and 11 steals and A. Rupp dropped in five points. Kapuscinski’s unkept stats include a few floor burns and some great outside picks but those numbers aren’t officially tracked.
Note: Randy Rupp’s junior varsity team started the night defeating the Wasps to finish their year undefeated. With only 13 players on both the junior varsity and varsity teams, there were times when Rupp’s team finished their games with only three players on the court and still managed to finish the year without a loss.
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