Sports

Windsor upsets Northfield, 50-45

By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NORTHFIELD, Vt. — After a pretty quiet and measured first half, the action was non-stop over the final 16 minutes as No. 10 seeded Windsor pulled away in the final quarter to upset No. 7 seeded Northfield 50-45 on Tuesday.

The Jacks would grab a big lead in the third quarter only to see it slip away when Northfield got hot setting the stage for a fantastic final eight minutes.

“That was crazy,” said Windsor head coach Harry Ladue after the game.

Windsor led 19-17 at the break with the Maurauders zone press making the Yellow Jackets make their outside shots while Windsor packed the paint and limiting Preston Lilly any easy looks. Guard play was on display as Adam King was a one man scoring machine for Northfield as he dropped in eight points while Maison Fortin answered with eight of his own. Windsor head coach was shifting players in and out as he tried to stuff the lane with bodies and once he found the right combination, things began to fall into place for the Jacks.

“We tried a few different pieces but once we put Dalton Clifford in, it worked,” Ladue said.

Once Clifford and Lilly began to match with Windsor’s man to man, the Jacks found some magic.

Caleb Buchanan and Caiden Crawford-Stempel traded long range hoops to open the second half, then Windsor took over. Kaleb Swett, Austin Gauld, and Buchanan became red hot. In 60 seconds, the Jacks pushed their lead to 32-22 with an 11-2 run that forced Marauders head coach James Robinson to call a time out.

That breather settled his troops down and they came back in full force. Lilly started the comeback with a flurry of rebounds and a free throw, Adam King swished one from beyond the arc while Crawford-Stempel followed with his own three ball. Lilly’s plus one had the lead down to 34-32 as the Northfield fans were electric then Carson Smit tied things at 34-34 and the gym was loud.

Swett would quiet the crowd with a swish as Windsor would hold onto a single point lead entering the final quarter.

“We watched lots of film and noticed some tendencies,” said Buchanan after the game.

With Northfield stating in their zone defense, Windsor began to slip a guard into the fray and the rebounds started to find Yellow Jacket hands plus Fortin’s thievery would take center stage.

Fortin would make a steal at mid-court and his layup was answered by a Crawford-Stempel baseline drive, 39-38 Jacks. Buchanan’s drive down the lane gave Windsor a three-point cushion. Another Maison steal led to back to back hoops from Clifford and Swett’s three pointer which caused Northfield to call timeout as Swett raced across his bench with low fives from everyone. 46-38 with under four minutes remaining. Ladue was content to milk the clock which forced the Marauders into a man to man defense and eventually a press which Windsor had no trouble with.

Windsor would stride to the line a total of 10 times in the final quarter but would only drop five of them as Northfield’s plan to foul was working. Windsor led 50-45 and Northfield had the ball but Fortin made another steal with 11 seconds remaining as the Jacks ran out the clock to advance to the next round of playoffs.

“We had lots of players step up tonight,” said Windsor head coach Harry Ladue after the game. “We had top to bottom contributions.”

Windsor’s balanced attack was led by Buchanan’s 14 points, Fortin’s 13 points, Swett’s 11 points and Gauld’s nine points.

King and Crawford-Stempel led Northfield with 13 points while Caron Smit would finish with 11 points.

Windsor (9-11) will head to No. 2 seeded Hazen on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip-off. Hazen (16-4) defeated Mill River 82-17 on Tuesday.

sports @eagletimes.com

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