THETFORD — Trailing by 13 points early in the second quarter on Tuesday night, Windsor High girls basketball coach Kabray Rockwood took a timeout.
“I said, ‘This could get real ugly, or we can find a way to claw back in this,’ ” Rockwood said. “ ‘This is an effort issue, and we’re beating ourselves and we need to correct that.’ The power of hitting a couple shots and getting up on defense turns the tide.”
The Yellowjackets stormed back, cutting their deficit to five by halftime and finally taking the lead with three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, then used free throws to pull away from there for a 53-41 victory over host Thetford.
Windsor (2-1), the defending VPA Division III state champions, graduated all five starters from last year’s title-winning squad. Junior Sydney Perry led the Yellowjackets with 19 points, sophomore Audrey Rupp had 18 and sophomore Sophia Rockwood added 12, including the floater that gave Windsor the lead for good.
Junior Addie Cadwell’s 15 points led the Panthers (1-1), who got six apiece from juniors Kelsey Bogie and Charlize Brown and senior Madi Mousley.
“If they stay connected and they believe in themselves, they can accomplish whatever they want,” Kabray Rockwood said. “There’s a pedigree in Windsor of winning championships, and all teams get held to that standard. If you believe in yourself and you work hard, you have those opportunities.”
Windsor is back in action on Tuesday against Fall Mountain in the Connecticut River Classic, hosted by Stevens. Thetford hosts Division I powerhouse CVU on Thursday.
MANCHESTER — Sarah Belk had 22 points, 12 of them in the fourth quarter, to lead the Raiders (1-2) to their first win of the season. Belk scored all of Lebanon’s points in the final period.
The Raiders return home Thursday to take on Laconia.
QUECHEE — The Eagles (1-1) got into the win column for the first time as they held off the Swordswomen.
MVCS led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter and just held on with stops on the last few defensive possessions. Trinity’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short.
Sarah Bascom led the Eagles with seven points, all from the free-throw line. Rebekah Roberts added six and Alyssa Roberts chipped in with five.
“Overall, a much better effort and an improvement from our last game,” MVCS coach Chris Goodwin said. “We will continue to get better and learn from each game.”
The Eagles host defending VPA Division IV champion West Rutland on Tuesday.
BRADFORD, Vt. — Another strong effort from sophomore Maggi Ellsworth propelled the Olympians (2-1) to a win over the Hurricanes (1-1).
Ellsworth scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Emerson Fuller-Penatzer had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Charlotte Jasmin had a game-high 22 for Hartford.
Oxbow is at Rivendell on Thursday, while the Canes travel to Woodstock on Friday.
NORTHFIELD, Vt. — The Wildcats (1-1) bounced back from a season-opening loss to Thetford with a rout of the Marauders.
Tanner Drury led White River Valley with 24 points, and Ella Perreault contributed a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jillian Barry added 13 points for the Cats and Shannon Hadlock chipped in with 18 points and 12 boards.
The Cats return home Thursday to host Springfield.
NORTH SUTTON, N.H. — The Royals fell to 1-3 with the loss to the Cougars. Mascoma will open the home portion of its schedule Thursday against Winnisquam.
LEBANON — The Raiders surrendered the NHIAA Division II game’s first 22 points.
Chase Adams, a 6-foot-4 junior center, led the hosts with 11 points.
Max Shosa led the Blue Devils with 21 points.
Lebanon (1-1) travels Thursday to play Laconia, which beat Manchester West by 18 points in the teams’ season opener.
QUECHEE — The Eagles started slowly, giving up too many easy looks and transition points, and trailed by nine at the half before rallying.
MVCS took the lead midway through the fourth quarter and never gave it back. Joel Roberts and Abel Goodwin each had 15 points, while Roman Goeppner filled the stat sheet with 14 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks and four steals. Goodwin also had five rebounds and three assists.
The Eagles (3-0) are at Peoples on Thursday.
HANOVER — The Bears fell to 0-3 with the loss.
Hanover is at Bishop Brady on Thursday.
WEST LEBANON — Maeve Lee had a hat trick and added an assist to lift the Bears (2-1) to a big win.
Rachel Rockmore scored once and added three assists, and Nora Bradley and Rory Seelig each finished with one goal and two assists.
Hanover is at Concord on Friday.
DERRY, N.H. — Owen Robb and Olivia Pollard each scored for the Raiders (1-2), but they were no match for Pinkerton’s duo of Madison Gibeault and Emily Gosselin, who combined for seven goals and two assists.
“We had the chance to get back into the game in the second period and didn’t take advantage of it,” LSK coach Mike Sheehan said. “Hopefully we put this in our memory bank and remember it.”
The Raiders host Manchester Central on Jan. 3.