Windham basketball opens 2025 with back-to-back wins over rival Gorham

By Matt Pascarella

After the Windham varsity girls’ basketball team held off Gorham and secured a 41-40 win, the Windham varsity boys’ basketball team took the court on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Windham against Gorham with intensity and remained undefeated after an impressive 78-48 win over its arch rival.

Windham senior Conor Janvrin goes up for a layup during
a boys' prep basketball game against Gorham at Windham
High School on Thursday, Jan. 2.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“Guys were excited to play; we looked at film from that first matchup (with Gorham) and saw a lot of things we could have done differently,” said Windham varsity boys’ basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen. “They executed and defense was strong. When that happens, I think we get good opportunities. I just think the energy was high – guys were ready to play them again ... we thought we could play better, and they certainly came out with that attitude. We talk to the kids everyday about proving it to ourselves. We’re playing against ourselves really, the standard that we’re trying to hold our kids to. We want to try to play our best basketball ... and are laser focused on each day. As cliché as that is, they are looking to win each day, to gain something for that next opportunity to play. Decision making and full court passing was a little bit weak tonight, we had some lapses on defense; we’re not going to play a perfect game, but we can at least chase it, and chasing it is making great decisions, playing free. They made up for that with effort and creating mistakes for (Gorham). I’m real proud of the guys, they did it together.”

Windham took the court with force and had several solid turnovers. They rebounded well and had a small lead to begin from there that lead would only grow. Windham junior AJ Moody had a three-pointer in the first quarter. Senior Conor Janvrin sunk a three-pointer in the second quarter. By the second quarter, Windham had built a 10-point lead; their defense was unrelenting. Windham sophomore Colin Janvrin hit a three-pointer and the Eagles just kept running up the scoreboard and at the half led, 39-23.

“I feel like we did a good job, guys came off the bench, they helped a lot,” said Windham senior Joseph Blige. “Everybody contributed, I feel like we did a great job as a team today; defense in the second half was pretty great. Our energy was really high ... we just got to business.”

The second half began with no slowdown in speed or loss of power for Windham. Less than three minutes into the half, Windham’s lead grew to 20 as junior AJ Moody knocked down a three-pointer, then Tyrie James followed suit.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Windham’s lead was simply out of reach for Gorham. Windham senior Braycen Freese sank a three-pointer. Despite its massive lead, Windham did not let up and their defense remained intense.

High scorers in the game for Windham were senior Creighty Dickson with 17-points, Conor Janvrin with 15, James with 11, and Moody with 10.

“The team energy (led to the win),” said Conor Janvrin, who scored 15-points and had four rebounds in the game. “The team is there to pick us up; the approach was go out there and win – (Gorham) is a well-coached team, they are a great team ... we did our best, went out there and played our game. Our energy was really good, our teamwork, and executing our gameplan went really well. What needs work is we take a lot of contested shots, and rebounding.” <