Windsor overwhelms Lake Region in Division III championship
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By TOM HALEY Staff Writer - Published: March 4, 2007
BARRE — The Twin-State Speedway in Claremont, N.H. is only a couple of songs on the car radio away from Windsor. But there's no need to wait for the stock car season to sample speed. The Division III state champion Windsor girls basketball team has lots of it.
"As far as team speed, that's the quickest team we saw all year," Lake Region coach Mark Tinker said after watching the Yellow Jackets overwhelm his Rangers 61-40 in Saturday's Division III state championship game at Barre Municipal Auditorium.
The Jackets' quick hands and feet made nearly every trip down the floor an adventure for the Rangers, who were plagued by 52 turnovers.
Isabella Matos led top-seeded Windsor with 20 points. Freshman Morghan Farnsworth added 12 and Stacie Waite contributed eight points.
Six-foot-1 Donna Lawson did everything she could to keep the Rangers in the game, scoring 14 points and hauling down 16 rebounds off the bench. Shelby Budziak had 11 rebounds for the No. 3 Rangers.
It was the first state title since 1996 for the 20-4 Jacks.
They showed no signs of Auditorium fright as they came out and took an 8-0 lead.
"That helped our confidence a lot," Waite said. "We were very relaxed and had a lot of confidence."
The Jackets watched three quarters of Lake Region's semifinal victory over Enosburg.
"We thought they were really fast and that we had to pressure them with our defense a lot," Waite said.
It was more like suffocating them.
The Yellow Jackets never did allow the Rangers to play with a lead, using their intense defense and speed to forge a 34-16 advantage by halftime.
"We ran the floor extremely well," Windsor coach Bruce Mackay said. "When I came here, all they had played was man-to-man defense and we put in this match-up zone."
Farnsworth said the success of the defense is the result of plenty of hard work.
"We work on defense every day," Farnsworth said. "Every day we scrimmage against each other.
"We're very fast. I am very proud of this team."
"Credit their defense, but I think we were flustered," Tinker said.
The Rangers made a move in the second quarter and when Budziak scored off a rebound, they had cut the lead to 17-14, prompting Mackay to call a timeout.
The Jacks ended the half with a 17-2 run that was ignited by a 3-point field goal from Marissa Chase.
The Jacks did not lose any of their momentum in the locker room. They extended the lead to 44-16.
But the Rangers still had some fight in them. They went on a 16-0 run of their own and when Hannah Kinsey converted a layup to slice the lead to 44-32, the Lake Region cheering section erupted.
But the comeback dream was quickly extinguished. Matos scored on a couple of layups to help the Jacks recapture the momentum and they simply pulled away from there.
The Windsor student section began the "It's All Over" chant with 39 seconds remaining, but the game had been put away long ago.
"You can't measure this team's heart. I am so happy for them," Mackay said. "This is something they won't forget."
Windsor was 29-of-70 from the floor for 41 percent. The Rangers were 15-for-49 for 31 percent.
Notes: Lake Region has not won a title since 1974 when the Rangers defeated Oxbow 38-36. … Windsor went to three straight D-III state finals while winning crowns in 1994 and 1996. … Lake Region was presented the Sportsmanship Trophy for the tournament. … Vermont Principals Association Activities Director Bob Johnson is a Lake Region graduate. … Fans from both schools have more basketball remaining. Both the Rangers and Yellow Jackets boys teams are still alive. … The annual North-South Senior Games will be played March 17 at Windsor High School.
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