By James Biggam
TIMES ARGUS
BARRE, Vt. — Williamstown’s pursuit of perfection was halted by two-time defending Division III champ Lake Region during Thursday’s girls basketball semifinal.
Coach Joe Houston’s No. 3 seeded Rangers earned a shot at a three-peat by capping a wire-to-wire 35-25 victory over the No. 2 Blue Devils (20-1).
“We had some really tough games and we had some really tight games, both early in the season and late,” Houston said. “And it was hard to tell with Williamstown because of their schedule. And you say, ‘Well, how tough are they going to be?’ But they’re tough. They gave us everything we wanted. And I had a feeling they probably would. We played them the first game of the season last year and they played us tough then. So strength of schedule does mean something. But it’s who comes and plays that night on the floor is really what makes the difference.”
Lake Region (14-6) secured a finals date with No. 1 Windsor, which coasted to a 46-26 semifinal victory over No. 5 White River (16-6). Tip-off for Saturday’s championship at the Barre Aud is 7:30 p.m.
“We’re playing a Goliath and we’re David,” Williamstown coach Sid Sweet said. “We have 15 girls in our high school program and we have eight on varsity. They have the JV, the JV B and a varsity. I don’t believe we were supposed to be here. I don’t think anyone thought we’d be here. At the beginning of the year I thought, ‘Oh, we’ll get 12 or 13 wins.’ The record was a bonus, honestly. We talked about how everyone is 2-0 when they get here.”
Houston’s side had a tough time pulling away from Williamstwon during the defensive battle. The Rangers held the Blue Devils scoreless for the opening 6 minutes and 7 seconds, but they only had a 4-0 lead to show for their efforts.
“At the timeout I said, ‘Defensively, we’re doing amazing: You held them to two possessions. But we just have to get the ball to fall,’” Sweet said. “Sweeney had five in the first half, so we were pretty tickled. We were right where we wanted to be. But if you don’t score, you don’t win — that’s just how it is.”
Lake Region led 8-2 after the first quarter and entered halftime in front 19-14. A 27-20 advantage after three quarters helped the Northeast Kingdom powerhouse remain comfortably ahead down the stretch.
Sakoya Sweeney paced the Rangers with eight points and 11 rebounds. She received lots of help from teammates Maddie Racine (seven points), Madison Bowman (six points, nine rebounds), Dayna Knights (six points) and Maya Auger (five points).
Destiny Campbell and Paige Dwinell both finished with eight points and 11 boards in the loss. Dwinell forced a handful of jump balls and hit the deck multiple times while battling for rebounds and loose balls.
“This young lady, I put as much pressure on her as anyone,” Sweet said of Paige Dwinell. “But I truly think she can change the game of basketball for Williamstown. She never melts. She always stands up and takes the pressure head-on. And all the games where we needed that, she was there: rebounding, finishing, defensively. When she walks off the floor, she gave you everything she had every single night. With that coming back, we’re pretty excited. I don’t want to look past tonight, but she has a great future. Her work ethic is second to none.”
Brianna McLaughlin added five points for the Blue Devils. Teammates Eliza Dwinell and Fasika Parrott contributed two points apiece.
“Their team defense is tremendous,” Houston said. “Watching the film of them, Sid has them playing really good help and rotation. That’s a five-player thing that happens, and they did a great job with that.”
Lake Region made three shots from beyond the arc and struggled from the free-throw line, going 4 of 14. McLaughlin drained the only 3-pointer for the Blue Devils, who finished 2 of 6 from the stripe.
Paige Dwinell ripped down early defensive rebounds to energize the Blue Devils early in the first quarter. But both teams struggled to capitalized on the offensive end.
Bowman caught an inbounds pass and slashed through traffic to open the scoring with 5:52 on the clock. Racine countered with two points at the other end, leading to a timeout by Williamstown. McLaughlin took a charge defensively to spoil Lake Region’s next scoring attempt and then Campbell and Eliza Dwinell nabbed steals to stymie the Rangers.
Sweeney assisted Knights under the basket on an inbounds pass for two points with 2:16 on the clock. Campbell’s sneaky bounce pass set up Paige Dwinell in the paint for a weak-side layup with 1:53 left in the first quarter. Knights hit a 3-pointer for the Rangers a few seconds later and then the Blue Devils missed two foul shots, resulting in a six-point Lake Region lead after one quarter.
“One of the things that this group has been fighting a little bit is sometimes struggling to finish early in games,” Houston said. “But the defensive intensity — not letting teams get away from us — has been key. And even though we were here in the championship last year, it’s a whole other environment when the stands have got all those fans — they were going crazy. I definitely think we were a little nervous and rushed a few shots and were just a little impatient sometimes. But then we settled in. And we’ve got some girls that just took what the game gave them and got some good looks.”
Auger nailed a 3-pointer to kick off the second quarter, but Campbell fired back with two points on a second-chance shot. Paige Dwinell showed off her strength while grabbing a defensive board and then Parrott set up Eliza Dwinell with an inbounds pass for a catch-and-shoot jumper, closing the gap to 11-6. Racine dribbled into the lane and tossed up a runner that bounced off the glass and fell through the cylinder with 4:50 left in the first half.
Parrott dished the ball out to Campbell for an open mid-ranger jumper from the right side midway through the second quarter. Williamstown entered the bonus with 3:28 on the clock and McLaughlin went 2 of 2, slicing the Rangers’ lead to 13-10. A steal and layup by Campbell made it a one-point game, prompting Houston to call a timeout.
Sweeney dropped in a pull-up jumper from the top of the key, teammate Laris Haney followed with a basket in the paint and Sweeney scored again for a 19-12 lead with 2:00 remaining in the first half. Dominant post moves by Paige Dwinell helped Williamstown end the Rangers’ mini-run.
Lake Region went 0 of 2 at the line, but the Rangers got the ball right back after a traveling violation by the Blue Devils. A last-second shot by Sweeney missed the mark and Lake Region headed into halftime with a five-point advantage.
“She’s tough,” Houston said of Paige Dwinell. “We knew that was going to be a tough assignment. And she got us with some. Our goal was just trying to keep her from getting too many. And I’m really happy that my girls were able to at least contain her a little.”
Lake Region went 0 of 2 at the line, but the Rangers got the ball right back after a traveling violation by the Blue Devils. A last-second shot by Sweeney missed the mark and Lake Region headed into halftime with a 14-19 advantage.
The Rangers committed four fouls in the opening two minutes of the third quarter as both teams struggled to create high-percentage looks offensively.
“It didn’t come back to bite us,” Houston said of the fouls. “We were maybe a little overexcited, a little over-amped after the opportunity was gone. But hopefully we’ll be a little more poised on Saturday when we get into that situation.”
A weak-side 3-pointer by Racine was followed by a basket in the paint by Parrott with 5:02 on the clock. Parrott served up a steal midway through the quarter and Dwinell converted a putback, closing the gap to 22-18. A Bowman basket down low gave Lake Region a six-point lead again before the Blue Devils called a timeout.
Sweeney came out of the break and swished in a long 3-pointer. Dwinell answered with a hard-earned basket in the paint and the Blue Devils almost scored again, but a fast-break layup ricocheted off the side of the iron. Turnovers by both teams left the Rangers with a seven-point cushion heading into the final eight minutes.
Parrot found McLaughlin along the perimeter for a 3-pointer with 6:02 left to play, slicing the deficit to 27-23. A left-handed puback by Knights boosted the Rangers, but McLaughin picked the defending champ’s pocket on Lake Region’s next possession. The Rangers served up a defensive stop and then Bowman found an opening on the right side and dribbled in for an easy two points, extendign the lead to 31-23 with 4:40 left to play.
Following another timeout, Campbell tipped away a pass near mid-court and sprinted up for a fast-break layup. Lake Region slowed things down on its next trip up the court and Auger eventually drew a foul, putting her team in the bonus. Auger missed the front end of a 1-and-1 attempt and then a 3-point bid by the Blue Devils bounced in and out of the rim. Williamstown entered the bonus with 3:05 remaining but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity from the foul line.
Lake Region’s Lillian Fateux made a foul shot with 2:35 left to play and then another long-distance shot by the Blue Devils hit the front of the rim. Sweeney added a free throw with 1:44 remaining and the Blue Devils missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance at the line two seconds later.
The Rangers went 0 of 2 from the line line with 1:40 on the clock during a double-bonus situation. Sweeney grabbed the rebound after her second miss and Auger was fouled with 1:30 left to play. Auger went 2 of 2 for a 35-25 lead. The Rangers missed a pair of foul shots and then two Williamstown 3-point attempts fell short down the stretch
“Fasika got to the rim a lot and most of that would go in,” Sweet said. “Tonight it just didn’t though. I liked their shots. Eliza had good looks, clean looks — in and out. The game was a little more physical than we’ve been used to all year. But that always seems to be the case when you get to Barre. I’ve probably got to do a better job coaching that in practice to get them ready for that. Other than that, I thought defensively we did a great job. And we rebounded well. They didn’t get a lot of extra shots. They just didn’t miss as much as we did.”
Lake Region earned a 51-42 victory over Windsor on Jan. 22. It was the only D-III loss for the Yellow Jackets, who suffered a 45-31 defeat at Brattleboro early in the season.
“We had them at our place earlier this year and we came out with a victory,” Houston said of the final. “But it was a hard-fought game then and I imagine they’re looking for a whole bunch of payback. They’ve got a very veteran that’s been eyeing the championship for awhile. So we’re going to have to be on our ‘A’ Game. And I imagine they will too. And hopefully we’ll just put on a great show one way or the other.”
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