BARRE - Things could have easily gone south for Windsor after senior star Audrey Rupp picked up her third and fourth fouls in a matter of seconds early in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s Division III semifinal vs. Hazen. But with the Yellow Jackets clinging to a seven-point lead, coach Kabray Rockwood’s team refused to slow things down.
Instead, Windsor turned up the heat with an 8-0 run and had no trouble wrapping up a 50-34 victory. “We foul a lot as a team and our main goal coming into this game was to not foul – and if we do foul, to play good defense,” Rupp said. “And I was thinking, ‘I can’t get this last foul.
I’ve got to stay contained on defense and stay low, but don’t reach.’” Third-seeded Windsor improves to 18-4 and will face No. 1 Oxbow (20-2) in Saturday’s 7:30 p.
m. title game at the Barre Aud. The Yellow Jackets won it all in 2022 and 2023 and will be making their fourth straight finals appearance after suffering a 66-56 loss to Hazen in last year’s championship.
“We felt like (Windsor) was the only team left in the tournament that could run and play our style of basketball,” Hazen coach Randy Lumsden said. “Our advantage is we turn our defense into offense, and (Windsor) was the only team that we felt could neutralize that. And they did: They executed well tonight and they made us uncomfortable.
Every move we made, they were wagging us and making it hard for us to get to where we wanted to get.” Rupp hit both of her team’.
