WINDHAM — With 21 seconds left on the clock, Windham clinging to a one-point lead, and the program’s first trip to the Division I state semifinals hanging in the balance, Meghan Husson stepped to the free throw line.
The pressure simply melted away.
The Jaguar senior smiled from ear to ear as the ball was tossed into her hands, in what could have been the most anxiety-inducing moment of her basketball career.
“Yeah, I smiled,” she said. “I felt great. There was no time for nerves. I just had to let it go and shoot. Catch, shoot, release. Have the mentality that it’s going in. I just had to let the stress go and think positive thoughts. That’s what I did, and that’s why they went in.”
Husson calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to give Windham a three-point lead. After some tough defense, a Pinkerton buzzer-beater was no good, and the No. 3 Jaguars defeated their rival No. 6 Astros 44-41 in the state quarterfinals.
“This was one of the most exciting moments of my life,” said Husson. “We as a senior group have never been in a situation like this, so it’s awesome. So thrilling. We’re going to let this sink in for a while. Then we’re going to move on and get ready for the semis.”
The Jaguars (18-2) advance to their first girls hoops semifinal since making the Division II semis in 2012 and 2013.
Windham will next face No. 2 Londonderry (21-1) on Monday (6 p.m.) at Exeter High School. The Lancers beat the Jags in their regular season matchup, 57-40, on Feb. 4.
“We’re so excited,” said senior Avery Steffanides. “Going into this season, we didn’t know what to expect. I felt like we could make it here, but I didn’t expect to be here. But we knew this could be our year. We beat Pinkerton in the regular season, but we knew they were going to be tough. We knew we wanted it more than anything.”
The late free throws were a bit of catharsis for Husson, who struggled with her shot on Thursday, finishing with a team-high 10 points.
“Meghan is our best free throw shooter, and I reminded her of that before she went out there,” said coach Todd Steffanides. “And she went out and knocked down those two shots. It wasn’t her best shooting night of the season. But she is our best shooter, and we trust her whenever she is taking any shot, especially from the free throw line.”
Husson, who was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star last winter when she averaged 9.9 points a game, wasn’t about to let a little slump faze her in the clutch.
“I just had to shake it off,” said Husson. “Everyone is going to have a rough day shooting once in a while. But you just have to keep the right mentality and keep shooting.”
A back-and-forth contest saw Windham lead 16-11 after one quarter, 23-19 at halftime, and 34-30 heading into the final quarter.
But Pinkerton, the defending Division I finalist, wasn’t going away quietly. Kaylee Dupuis hit a layup, added two free throws, then Brooke Benz grabbed a rebound and tossed it in to give the Astros the lead with 4:08 left, their first lead since the game’s opening basket.
Jaguar Rileigh Finneran, however, gave her squad the lead right back with a pair of free throws, then Husson made a slick pass under the basket to Steffanides for a basket.
Pinkerton Eagle-Tribune All-Star point guard Sydney Gerossie (game-high 14 points) knocked down a shot, but a late flurry of shots by the Astros didn’t fall.
“We just didn’t do the little things,” said Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey. “Windham has a stifling defense, and we weren’t doing the movement against that. We took a lot of forced 3-pointers, instead of attacking the basket. We didn’t finish well, and that became a deciding factor. And Windham played a great game tonight.”
Windham 44, Pinkerton 41
Division I quarterfinals
Pinkerton (41): Brooke Benz 4-1-9, Kaylee Dupuis 4-2-10, Sydney Gerossie 5-2-14, Mia Marshall 0-1-1, Taya Brown 2-0-5, Hayden Leccese 1-0-2. Totals 16-6-41
Windham (44): Rileigh Finneran 3-3-9, Lilah Boucher 3-0-7, Sarah Guarnaccia 2-0-4, Meghan Husson 3-3-10, Grace Mondello 1-2-4, Gabriella Gullifa 0-2-2, Avery Steffanides 3-0-8. Totals 15-10-
Threes: Wind — Boucher, Husson, Steffanides 2; Pink — Gerossie 2, Brown
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