Windsor wins on senior night

The Windsor Yellow Jackets boys basketball team won on a night of celebration and charity, 58-30 against the visiting Springfield Cosmos Tuesday.

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2017-02-22 / Sports Windsor wins on senior night «» View full-size Springfield's GJ Scherington shoots against Windsor. — ZABRINA CAMPNEY http://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/WinSrs.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/SBBSr%5B1%5D_0.jpeghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/MRSBB4.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/GJ.jpg By PATRICK GORDON WINDSOR — The Windsor Yellow Jackets boys basketball team won on a night of celebration and charity, 58-30 against the visiting Springfield Cosmos Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets celebrated the accomplishments of their two seniors in their last home game of the regular season, Andrew “AJ” Wood, who is out the remainder season after having broken his arm in a fall, and Josh Griep. Additionally, the Windsor Booster Club donated all proceeds from the game’s very successful 50/50 raffle to support Springfield’s senior guard Alex Naccarato, who the Upper Valley is rallying around following a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma around the new year. Windsor’s defense was dominant to start the game and had several early steals, causing an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Both the Cosmos and the Yellow Jackets played well in the paint throughout the first quarter and were aggressively kicking the ball out of the paint to take shots from beyond the arc. The first quarter closed with Windsor only leading 14 to Springfield’s 10. “We played hard. We missed a lot of easy shots early, it’s what it is,” said Windsor head coach Harry Ladue of his team’s early struggles to put up points. Springfield’s head coach, Michael Ruppel, said, “We took one or two bad shots in the first half. We just couldn’t get one to go, we missed some layups and some open threes from some guys who have consistently shown us they can shoot them. We preach patience and we preach getting a good shot but we preach being confident when you take your shot.” In the second quarter Windsor’s Robert Slocum started off by stealing the ball from Springfield and capitalized on it by knocking down a 3-pointer. The Yellow Jackets aggressively attacked the basket, pushing the ball into the paint, and 10 of Windsor’s remaining 13 points in the second quarter came from patiently waiting for their openings. “That’s where we want to start. We want to make them have to defend us in the paint. Ben (Meagher) had a rough start and then he settled down,” said Ladue. The Yellow Jackets defensive prowess showed itself in the second quarter and it was not lost throughout the remainder of the game, as Springfield’s shots would not fall into the basket and Windsor would come up with key defensive rebounds. The score into halftime had Windsor leading 30-14. “One of the goals whenever you play a Windsor team is you have to handle their press and I thought for three of the four quarters we did an okay job with it,” said Ruppel. As both teams came out of halftime, the Cosmos came out strong after having let Windsor have the first score. Springfield senior Chris Hopkins and freshman Noah Zierfus each put up a 3-pointer and the Springfield defense prevented anymore scoring by pressing the Yellow Jackets until the 4:16 mark of the third quarter. For the next nine minutes Windsor had 20 unanswered points because of several mistakes by the Cosmos. Windsor’s aggressive offense was present and accounted for as sophomore Slocum (11), junior Duncan Frazer (10), and junior Meagher (11) each scored in the double digits. Zierfus was the only Cosmo player in the double-digits, having scored 13 points. “We told the guys in the locker room after the game, we had a couple kids step up and do a couple good things for us. Noah Zierfus played what I thought was his best game of the year, I really thought he was aggressive offensively and pretty good defensively as well,” said Ruppel. The Yellow Jackets return to action for their last game of the regular season on Thursday against regional rival Woodstock at 7 p.m. in Woodstock, while the Cosmos close their season at home against Hartford at 7 p.m. ——— Local Roundup Mt. Royal 70, Sunapee 67 In a close and physical game between next-door neighbors, the Knights would prevail on their home court. After battling to a 15-15 deadlock through the first period, Mt. Royal would squeak ahead 35-34 at the half. The Knights would lead 54-50 through three quarters, but with less than a minute to play the Lakers were only down 65-62. Hartford 59, Springfield 19 The Hurricanes didn't have anyone put up big numbers, but instead had 12 different players on the scoreboard. Hartford improved to 8-9 on the season while shutting down the Cosmos' offense.