WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Flummoxed by an aggressive zone press and struggling to guard Mount Anthony Union High’s Madisyn Moore, the Hartford High girls basketball team nearly let a big lead slip away down the stretch on Wednesday night before coming away with the 40-33 victory.

Charlotte Jasmin led the way for Hurricanes, scoring 18 points and assisting on at least 10 more in a great two-way performance.

“I’m glad she’s on our team,” said Landon. “She just does so much for us on the court and she’s a great leader.”

Both squads deployed full-court defenses to great effect in the first quarter, creating a succession of turnovers and slowing both offenses. Jasmin proved to be the difference, as the sophomore powered seven of the nine Hurricane points in the quarter with her shooting and passing.

Helped by a dead-ball technical foul between quarters, Hartford opened the second quarter on a quick 7-0 run to take a 12-point lead and force a timeout from MAU.

After the Patriots cut into the advantage with back-to-back triples from Moore, Jasmin cut off the rally, finding Paige Trombly for a layup before burning through three players for the transition layup.

The Hurricanes eased into the half leading by an 11-point margin.

While Hartford looked ready to run away with the game early in the third period, missed shots from the Hurricanes and more shotmaking from Moore, who ended with a game-high 25 points, put Mount Anthony 10 points behind entering the final quarter.

A 10-point lead became a five-point lead just minutes into the final frame, but once again the Hurricanes found an answer on an end-to-end sequence from Charlotte Jasmin. The guard first fought through contact for a tough layup, then on the other end flew across the paint to defend a Patriot layup and start a fast-break capped by a Camryn Brewer layup to restore the lead to nine points with little left in the game.

Mount Anthony made one more push, sinking a few shots to pull within five, but they would get no closer than that. A few free-throws ended the night for Hartford got over the line with the 40-33 win.

Hartford, now 4-2 after three straight victories, heads north to face White River Valley on Friday night.

“We’ve got to play better there,” said Landon. “It’s a tough environment and it’ll be a tough game.”