Windham girls basketball pulls out win over Winnacunnet in season opener (video)

WINDHAM - For most of the second half of Friday's season opener, the Windham High School girls basketball team couldn't find its offense.

And while the Jaguars were struggling to score, Winnacunnet chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game at 33 with a little more than two minutes remaining.

In the final moments, Windham turned to two of its more experienced players - juniors Sarah Dempsey and Livi Tsetsilas - to get the job done and the pair delivered.

Dempsey hit a pullup jump shot to give the Jaguars the lead with about 40 seconds remaining, and after a Warriors turnover, Tsetsilas hit two free throws to help give Windham a 38-33 win over Winnacunnet in the Division I opener for both teams.

"I thought it’d be pretty messy," Windham coach Anne Haky said. "I never felt comfortable throughout the whole game. We needed some shots to fall. The third quarter was a tough one for us. Things didn’t want to fall whether we were open or there were hands in our face."

The Jaguars (1-0) got 18 points from Dempsey, 11 of which came in the first half, and Tsetsilas and Abby Hughes each added six points. But after taking a six-point lead into halftime, Windham went almost seven minutes without scoring to open the third quarter

"We definitely struggled and it’s something we’ll keep working on and we’ll get there," Dempsey said. "It was just a good team win. We took advantage of our time that we had with our limited practices."

Winnacunnet (0-1) had 10 different players score points, led by freshman Riley Kerens, who finished with six points. Sage Johnson added five points while Bryn Stokel, Wylie MacDougall and Hannah Michael added four points apiece.

The Warriors trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but a basket by Kerens just before the buzzer got Winnacunnet within 26-20 at halftime. Kerens hit another basket early in the third to make it a four-point game, but both teams struggled with missed shots and turnovers.

Hughes finally ended Windham's drought with a 3-pointer with 1:39 left in the third quarter, putting the Jaguars up 29-24. The Warriors got another buzzer-beater, with MacDougall hitting a jumper with 1.7 seconds to go in the frame, making it a 29-26 lead for the Jaguars after three quarters.

MacDougall started the scoring in the fourth with a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, but a basket and two free throws by Dempsey extended the Windham lead to 33-28 with 4:50 remaining. Johnson scored all of her points on back-to-back possessions for Winnacunnet, hitting a 3 and then a layup to tie the game at 33 with 2:04 to go.

"Windham is a really good team," Winnacunnet coach Tom Hayward said. "If you knew we were going to be here with about a minute and 15 seconds, have the ball in a tie game, they would have taken that in a heartbeat. I’m absolutely thrilled with that."

After each team had an empty possession, Dempsey got the ball and drove down the right side, pulling up for a shot over Winnacunnet's Casey Coleman to give Windham the lead. The Warriors took a timeout, and on the in-bounds play, were called for five seconds, giving the Jaguars possession with 32.1 seconds to go.

Tsetsilas was fouled with 23.7 seconds remaining and made both free throws to put Windham up 37-33, and at the other end, Dempsey came up with a block on a shot by MacDougall.

"Clutch moments, and those are two juniors who are three-year varsity players," Haky said. "I trust them with everything I have and they work for everything they get. I guess I felt a little more comfortable knowing the ball was in their hands and they want to do what it takes to win the game."