Entering the 2008-09 season, the Spaulding High School girls basketball program had never won a state championship
That changed Thursday, when Marissa Velez scored 16 points - including the 1,000th point of her career – to help Spaulding beat BFA-St. Albans, 42-37, in the Division I state title game.
“I’m in shock,” Velez told The Burlington Free Press. “It was so hard. We wanted it.”
Velez made eight of nine free throw attempts in the game, including two with 37.5 seconds to play that gave Spaulding a 40-37 lead. The first free throw was her 1,000th point. Velez, who has accepted a basketball scholarship to Assumption College, added 11 rebounds for second-seeded Spaulding (21-3).
Spaulding lost to Bellows Falls, 43-43, in the program’s only other trip to the championship game in 1972.
Junior Shelby LaBarge collected 13 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals for top-seeded BFA (22-2).
BFA led 29-21 in the third quarter, but was held to two field goals in the final eight minutes. The Comets committed 26 turnovers.
The state’s three other girls basketball championship games were played Saturday:
DIVISION II: Burr and Burton held off a furious second-half Lamoille comeback to post a 51-43 victory and complete its season with a 24-0 record.
“We wanted it so bad,” said Burr and Burton’s Logan Cavanaugh, who scored 12 points. “All we wanted was to win the championship. It was our goal from the beginning, and we did it.”
Second-seeded Burr and Burton led by 16 points in the third quarter, before an 11-0 run by top-seeded Lamoille cut the lead to five .
Lamoille sophomore Chelsea Dunham was held scoreless in the first half, but scored 16 points in the final two quarters. She also finished the game with 13 rebounds.
Rachel Wellman tossed in 15 points for Lamoille, which finished 21-2.
Burr and Burton’s Jenna Hoffman made 11 of her 12 free throw attempts and scored a team-high 15 points. Hoffman made five free throws in the final three minutes to help seal the victory.
It was the third straight Division II championship game appearance for Lamoille. After winning the title in 2007 the Lancers have lost consecutive championship games.
DIVISION III: Abbey Lalime scored 14 of her game-high 25 points in the final quarter to carry second-seeded Lake Region to a 66-51 victory over top-seeded Windsor.
Donna Lawson scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for Lake Region, which won its first state championship since 1974. The Rangers were playing in their third straight Division III championship game, and had lost the previous two.
“It’s really awesome,” Lawson said. “We’ve been here three times and we got two runner-ups. We finally finished it this year.”
Windsor tied the game, 42-42, early in the fourth quarter, but Lake Region responded with a 10-0 run. Lalime scored seven of those 10 points. Lake Region outscored Windsor 24-11 in the final quarter.
Kylie Atwood added 10 points for Lake Region.
Windsor’s Carlin Hood scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Teammate Bethany Brown added 13 points, and Morghan Farnsworth collected nine points and 17 rebounds.
DIVISION IV: Robyn Kennedy scored 21 points to help third-seeded Chelsea defeat top-seeded West Rutland, 47-41, and hand the Red Devils their seventh state title. Chelsea wrapped up its season with a 20-4 record.
It was a bittersweet day for West Rutland junior Katie Lincoln, whose 23-point game included the 1,000th point of her career. She scored 21 of her 25 points in the second half.
Emily Sumner added nine points for West Rutland, which finished its season17-6.
Roger Brown covers Vermont and New Hampshire for MaxPreps. He can be reached at rbrown@nhfootballreport.com.
