Windsor surges past Springfield in fourth quarter

For the better part of four quarters the Springfield and Windsor ladies battled relentlessly for hardwood supremacy. Then, in the final four minutes, the Yellow Jackets surged ahead.

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2016-02-11 / Sports

Windsor surges past Springfield in fourth quarter By TIM TAYLOR sports@eagletimes.com Windsor's Anika Abrahamsen puts up a shot over a pair of Springfield defenders. — TIM TAYLOR Windsor's Anika Abrahamsen puts up a shot over a pair of Springfield defenders. — TIM TAYLOR WINDSOR — For the better part of four quarters the Springfield and Windsor ladies battled relentlessly for hardwood supremacy. Then, in the final four minutes, the Yellow Jackets surged ahead, posting a 44-34 victory Wednesday night in a contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate. “It was a good win, because Springfield came to play and I thought Springfield played real well,” said Windsor coach Bruce Mackay. “They fought right to the end.” Ashleay Wilcox, Windsor's leading scorer from a season ago, scored six of her game-high 18 points in the final period. She also made her presence known at the other end of the court. With her team up 37-34, Wilcox forced the Cosmos into turnovers with 3:18 and 2:34 remaining to play. The first led to a basket by Anika Abrahamsen and the other was followed by a pair of free throws by Maddie Morse, giving the Jacks 39-34 and 41-34 leads. It was the first game back for Morse after missing several due to illness. She only scored five points, but her senior leadership on the court was a plus. “From the stat line, it's probably one of her less full stat lines, but she's a presence on the court that every opposing team needs to be aware of,” said Springfield coach Joe Costello. It was Wilcox the shooter who converted a conventional 3-point play with 6:25 remaining for the first points of the fourth quarter to give the Jacks a 33-30 edge. It was their fourth, and largest lead of the evening to that point. She also nailed a pair of free throws at 5:58 for a 35-30 advantage and hit another at 1:11 for good measure, making it 42-34. Wilcox would then dish out an assist to Abrahamsen for a layup for the game's final basket. Abrahamsen scored all nine of her points after intermission, twice giving Windsor leads in the third quarter. “I thought we played a better second half after the first half,” said Mackay. “Second half, I thought Ashleay Wilcox had a great floor game, made some great assists, and it was good to have Maddie back for three minutes every once in awhile. She makes a difference on the floor. And Anika had a big game the second half. I just thought we played smarter the second half. It was a good, quality win.” “That fourth quarter, I contribute a lot of the play to the energy that Windsor came out with,” Costello said. “They dictated the pace of the game. They controlled the glass and Springfield's Diamond Bruso goes up for a shot over a Windsor defender. — TIM TAYLOR Springfield's Diamond Bruso goes up for a shot over a Windsor defender. — TIM TAYLOR they got a lot of second-chance opportunities that they converted into baskets.” Seventy-eight points between the two teams looked like a stretch at the onset as the Cosmos struggled with turnovers and the Jacks kept missing shots. Finally, Springfield's Brooke Willey drained a 3-pointer with 4:15 to go in the opening period to break the scoreless deadlock. Following a Kaycee Herschel bucket, the Cosmos' Lizzie Mackenzie popped a trey and then passed to Willey on a fast break to make it 8-2. But the Jacks came right back with a three from Erica Gray and a basket by Wilcox to close the gap to 8-7 at the quarter's end. Wilcox nailed a three 11 seconds into the second quarter to give Windsor its only lead of the first half, 10-8, but it wouldn't last long. Five points from Hannah Crosby and four from Ari Rowe, along with baskets by Willey and Mackenzie offset four points from Wilcox and a trey by Morse to give Springfield a 23-18 lead at the break. “I was concerned about our composure start to finish,” said Costello. “We were more successful the first half, but we still left a lot of points on the board. I think that might have been our highest turnover half of the year, and they weren't particularly playing a pressure defense. We were just committing unforced errors a lot of the time. “There were a lot of really bright stretches in the first half which I applaud my kids for,” Costello said. “It's just closing the gaps between the good plays and the less fortunate ones.” Mackenzie came out in the second half and gave the Cosmos their biggest advantage of the night, 25-18, with a bucket 42 seconds into the third quarter. Windsor countered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Wilcox and Gray, and Abrahamsen followed with a basket to give the Jacks their first lead of the second half, 26-25. Following a trio of lead changes, Yvette Gray made the first of two free throw attempts with 11 seconds left in the quarter, sending the game into the final eight minutes locked up at 30 apiece. Katie Comstock played a key role on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds, as did Abrahamsen. She had nine boards. Erica Gray contributed six points. Mackenzie led the Cosmos with 12 points while Crosby and Willey finished with seven apiece. Windsor (8-9) snapped a two-game losing streak and will host Fair Haven at 7 p.m. Friday. Springfield (5-12) will entertain Hartford on Friday at 7 p.m. for senior night.