By Tom Haley
RUTLAND HERALD
Snip. Snip. Snip. Reese Perry, Peyton Richardson and Elliot Rupp each took their turn at cutting a piece of the net at the Barre Auditorium, smiling the smile of a champion the whole time. They and their Windsor teammates had just beaten Lake Region 37-30 to claim the Division III girls state basketball championship.
The scissors did not cut down their athletic careers.
These three champions will be off soon to see what they can accomplish at the next level — Perry at Division II St. Michael’s College in women’s basketball, Rupp at Division III Moravian University in women’s soccer and Richardson in Castleton University’s Division III field hockey program.
“You always want players who want to take all of the coaching, effort and work and go onto play but it doesn’t happen every day,” Windsor girls basketball coach Kabray Rockwood said.
Perry averaged a double-double during the regular season, scoring just over 14 points per game and pulling down 15 rebounds per contest.
That’s impressive enough, but Rockwood points out that she amassed those numbers while playing limited minutes.
“When the scores are lopsided (as was usually the case), she isn’t playing 25 to 32 minutes a game like a lot of players.
“Against Vergennes, she had 33 points and played only maybe 20 minutes.”
During the playoffs, Perry was even better, averaging 21.25 points and 11 rebounds a game.
“She really took over in the playoffs,” Rockwood said.
Best of all, Rockwood sees her working hard to get better for the challenge in front her, playing for St. Michael’s in the Northeast 10, one of the toughest Division II conferences.
“When you say gym rat, you are talking about her,” Rockwood said.
It was Wayne Lafley, a high-profile AAU coach in Vermont who recently died, who put Perry on St. Michael’s coach Shannon Bollhardt’s radar.
Bollhardt had always valued Lafley’s opinion but at the time she had no roster spot open.
Then, two fifth-year seniors endured injuries that caused them not to use the final year of eligibility.
Bollhardt was immediately enamored of Perry during the recruiting process.
“What an amazing young woman. She was so mature and communicative. She was an absolute joy,” Bollhardt said.
“And she is an academic all-star.”
Perry will be majoring in Biomedical Engineering.
Bollhardt was already sold on Perry, but she wanted to put her through her paces with a workout last week. It was a 45-minute session, the type of workout Bollhardt puts her current players through when they want extra work.
“She was outstanding,” Bollhardt said.
“She called me a few days later and said she was coming.”
She will be an undersized power forward for the Purple Knights.
Perry will play more on the perimeter than she did at Windsor and Bollhardt said that gaining confidence in her 3-point shot will be a priority.
Bollhardt played during the hey-day of girls basketball in Vermont. She was Shannon Kynoch, playing for South Burlington against the likes of future UConn players Ashley and Morgan Valley at Rice.
She believes Vermont girls high school basketball is returning to that high level of play and that the Lone Wolf program that was operated by Lafley and that improved high school coaching is responsible for elevating it.
Perry is another piece of the evidence.
Castleton University field hockey coach Emily Lowell made the trip up to the University of Vermont to watch Richardson play in the Division III state championship game.
She loved what she saw as Richardson helped lead her team to the victory.
“I was really, really impressed with the force that she was in the middle of the field,” Lowell said.
It was Richardson who reached out to Lowell.
“She seems very excited about what we are building here at Castleton,” Lowell said.
Lowell held a Prospect Clinic at Castleton a few days ago that included all nine of her incoming recruits to date. Richardson is the only one from Vermont.
Lowell was excited to see the way in which Richardson fit in with her new teammates.
It is still to be determined what Richardson’s role will be with the Spartans.
She might be playing in the midfield area as she did at Windsor but moving her up on the forward line is not out of the question.
“I was really impressed with her attacking wise,” Lowell said.
The Spartans were very young last season, fashioning a 7-11 record in Lowell’s inaugural season.
Having that youth returning, blended with a strong recruiting class, is a scenario that Richardson saw happen at Windsor.
The participation numbers for field hockey were so low that several season ago, the Yellow Jackets played the game only on the JV level.
Coach Jody Wood restored the program’s luster and Richardson has been part of three state championship field hockey teams in a row.
The Spartans open on Sept. 1 at Union and then play Elms College in the home opener on Sept. 3. You can expect a sprinkling of Windsor green and gold in the stands that day.
Down in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a city of 75,000 along the Lehigh River, sits Moravian University.
The Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce long ago adopted the nickname of Christmas City, USA and Rockwood believes the Greyhounds are getting a very special Christmas present with Rupp coming to their campus to play soccer.
A player adept at scoring with either foot, Rupp figures to be a key addition to coach Jeff Ykoruk’s team that is hoping to build off last fall’s 6-5-4 season.
“I understand the basketball coach has also talked with her about the possibility of playing basketball,” Rockwood said.
Perry, Rupp and Richardson will always have those great championship memories from back home in Windsor.
Soon, they will be off on their own, ready to make new memories while representing the Windsor name.
tom.haley @rutlandherald.com
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