CLAREMONT — All seemed to be going well for the Windsor High boys basketball team headed into halftime on Wednesday evening.

But the Fall Mountain Wildcats clawed their way back in the second half of the opening game of the 2023 Connecticut River Classic to claim a hard-fought 44-43 win.

After the slow start, the Yellowjackets were dominant second quarter. Led by 13 points in the period by Noah Jenks, Windsor connected on multiple three-pointers and scored in transition off Fall Mountain turnovers.

When Corey Lockwood banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer, Windsor went into the locker room with a 14-point lead.

Fall Mountain turned the game around in the second half with a change in offensive strategy: slow down and attack the post.

The deliberate pace blunted the aggressive Windsor defense. And the low-post attack, led by mountainous sophomore center Josh Town, led to a 21-5 advantage in the quarter and a two-point Wildcat lead entering the final frame.

The Yellowjackets introduced their full-court press two minutes into the fourth quarter and it produced multiple turnovers. Unfortunately, Windsor largely failed to capitalize, missing open looks from the floor and committing turnovers of their own.

With 20 seconds left and the score tied, Windsor had possession, but Jenks was called for a traveling violation with just nine seconds remaining.

Fall Mountain’s Tyson Patch attacked the basket quickly and drew a foul with 5.4 seconds on the clock.

The junior forward sank the first free throw, but missed the second, giving Windsor’s Corey Lockwood one final chance. The guard weaved through three defenders to get a good look at the rim, but missed as he collided with a Fall Mountain player in midair. No whistle was blown, and the final buzzer sounded.

Noah Jenks finished the game with 15 points to lead the Jacks.

Windsor faces a familiar foe in Rivendell in tomorrow’s consolation game. Fall Mountain advances to the tournament final where they will face Stevens.

Stevens overpowers Rivendell

Stevens Cardinals showed offensive balance in winning Wednesday’s second tournament game.

After a strong early perimeter shooting performance, the Cardinals dominated the Raptors at the rim for the next three quarters to win, 48-37.

The Stevens frontcourt trio of Cullen Neathawk, Devante Thompson, and Luke Belisle led the pack with 12, 11, and 10 points respectively while dominating the glass.

Rivendell’s senior point guard Jacoby Patterson finished with 22 points in a losing effort.

“When we’re hitting shots like that, it really opens teams up … stops them from packing the paint and lets our bigs dominate,” said Stevens coach Matt Dancosse post-game.

After an opening layup, the two teams combined for five consecutive made three-pointers on their next five attempts, giving Stevens an early 11-6 lead.

While Rivendell pulled back into the game off free-throws from Jacoby Patterson, the Cards strong shooting continued, as they knocked in two more tough shots to take a 17-14 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We’ve got good shooters, so when they step into shots and knock them down, it boosts confidence for everyone,” said Dancosse.

With Rivendell extending its 2-3 zone defense to deal with the shooting threat, it was now the Stevens frontcourt’s turn to take control of the matchup. The frontcourt trio of Neathawk, Thompson and Belisle all had their way on the interior, keying an 11-2 run entering halftime that gave Stevens a 35-24 lead.

Entering the third quarter, foul trouble caught up to Stevens. With multiple starters forced to sit, the Raptors strung together a few buckets to cut the lead to single digits. Headed into the final quarter, the Raptors trailed 40-33.

With the starting lineup re-introduced in the fourth quarter, Stevens regained their advantage, scoring little but near-completely cutting off the Rivendell offense and killing the clock.

Stevens will face Fall Mountain in tomorrow’s tournament final. The two teams met on Dec. 11, with Stevens pulling away late for the win.