Fair Haven girls basketball unseats North Country with second-half comeback in D-II final
BARRE – Lilly Briggs’ only basket, a deep 3-pointer at the top of the arc, ensured Fair Haven never lost touching distance with their championship opponent before the Slaters could break a sweat.
Victoria Kelly’s deft touch from the right block gave Fair Haven its first taste of the lead in the final minute of the third quarter. A one-point cushion had never felt so good.
Izzy Cole’s icy, step-back triple from the left corner reestablished that hard-earned margin with two minutes left in regulation. Then, Maddy Perry spotted up on the right wing to top North Country’s swift rebuttal with a clutch 3-pointer of her own — a dagger that, with 1:25 to play, snatched the lead for good.
“I don’t score a lot for my team. I’m more of a passing, rebounding type of person,” Perry said. “But I knew with the clock ticking and we were down with so little time left I thought I’d just let it go.”
From a 15-point first-quarter deficit that nearly sank the Slaters, to a riveting, seesaw fourth quarter, No. 2 Fair Haven had an answer for everything that top-seeded North Country threw its way. The result? A stirring, 55-50 comeback victory to claim the Division II high school girls basketball championship on Saturday at Barre Auditorium.
“This is better than anything else in the world. This is the best feeling ever,” said Briggs, a senior. “I’ve played in three state championships and we came up short in the first two of them. Today it was extremely important that we got it done because this was it for me.”
Cole pumped in a game-high 19 points to pace the Slaters (20-4), while Kate Hadwen tossed in 12 points and Perry added eight points, all in a second-half surge that saw Fair Haven outscore North Country 37-20.
Sabine Brueck, the state’s reigning Gatorade Player of the Year, piled up 14 points, 15 rebounds and four steals to lead the Falcons (21-3), who were bidding to repeat as D-II champs. Maya Auger added 10 points and Josi Fortin nine.
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The title is Fair Haven’s fourth since breaking through for the first time in 2016, including a share of the 2020 championship which was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“All these kids have seen other Fair Haven basketball teams win state championships,” Slaters coach Kyle Wilson said. “I’m glad they were finally able to seal the deal.
“It was a complete team win,” he said.
And to think the Slaters nearly missed their chance as North Country raced out to a 9-0 lead inside three minutes and stretched its advantage to 17-2 later in the frame. Five players contributed to the early barrage, with the Falcons connecting across the court and gobbling up rebounds.
“We got down by a lot but we didn’t hang our heads,” Briggs said.
Crucially, the Falcons never landed the knockout blow, and allowed Fair Haven just enough daylight to reach halftime down 30-18.
“We gave up 30 points in the first half, which is so uncharacteristic of our teams — past and present,” Wilson said. “Our kids really bought into taking it a possession at a time, stacking up some stops, getting some clean looks, and the ball went in in the second half.”
The Slaters made good on their first-half mistakes with a relentless forward march in the third quarter. Hadwen set up Cole for a kick-out 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half that got Fair Haven to within single digits. And when Fortin stretched the Falcons’ lead moments later, Elizabeth Love fired back with a trifecta for the Slaters that kept them within 10 points the rest of the way.
“I think we didn’t adjust to having a lead, quite honestly. I think we rushed some things that we didn’t need to,” North Country coach Sarah Roy said. “And they just did a phenomenal job. They hit 3s, they got back into it the way they should. They’re well-coached, I’m not surprised.”
Briggs, who missed a chunk of the first half after injuring her ankle in the opening quarter, keyed the Slaters’ effort off the ball, snagging six rebounds and five steals. Love also had two swipes that led to points, and a fastbreak layup that put the Slaters within one with 4:31 remaining.
“I thought they kicked it up a notch defensively and we didn’t seem to have our wits to handle that,” Roy said.
Brueck did her part to spur North Country forward, converting a layup-and-one for a four-point cushion, and setting up Fortin for a layup that nudged the Falcons in front 48-47.
But the Slaters owned the day from there: Perry followed her go-ahead trey with a trio of free throws. Love’s two free throws with 3.3 seconds, giving her team a 55-50 lead, erased any drama left.
“Our kids really are competitive and they hate to lose,” Wilson said. “We knew the cards were kind of stacked against us at the half, but our kids are really resilient. Our schedule really helped us tonight, playing quality opponents throughout the regular season, being down a little bit, and having meaningful games in the fourth quarter like we had today.”
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