Windham varsity basketball shuts down Greely with strong start

By Matt Pascarella

Windham’s varsity summer basketball team faced Greely High in Cumberland on Monday, July 7 and its defense came out strong with Greely barely able to reach 10 points by halftime. All the while, Windham’s offense ran up the scoreboard with multiple players hitting three-pointers and the Eagles emerging with a 79-49 victory.

Windham senior Tyrie James wont be stopped as he heads
to the hoop during a summer prep basketball game against
Greely at Greely High School in Cumberland on
Monday, July 7.  PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

“I was just trying to come out here and play my best basketball,” said Windham junior Colin Janvrin, who knocked down at least five three-pointers. “We pushed the ball really well in transition and getting to the paint and kicking out for open threes or taking the layup if it was there. Something we got to work on is stopping middle drives; Greely would get to the paint a lot and have kick-out threes and it would just hurt us. We’re very confident with the team we have, and I think we’re going to go pretty far again and we’re going to have a really talented team this year.”

The Eagles took the court hungry and right away Windham sophomore Boston Krainis opened the game with a three-pointer. Moments later he hit another three-pointer.

Windham defense significantly held back Greely as they were unable to put many points up in the first part of the first half. Windham offense rebounded.

Senior Tyrie James sunk two three-pointers in a row. Janvrin sunk two three-pointers in the first half. Windham had a buzzer beater before the end of the half.

After one half, Windham led, 37-13.

“We pushed the ball well, I feel like we found our open shooters,” said James. “Defensively, we were pretty solid; we could work on rebounding. Everything you can work on, obviously. It was a great game in a hot gym, and we played well. There’s still more to work on and improve. We try not to let (the heat) affect us, but eventually it’s going to affect everyone; just got to stay hydrated.”

James said while summer wins are nice, players and teams can change a lot before the winter season begins, so it’s vital to not put too much importance on winning games.

The second half brought Janvrin opening with another three-pointer; then Moody followed suit as Windham intensity remained high – as well as temperature.

Janvrin sank two more three-pointers as Greely gained a bit of traction and closed the gap, but only a little.

Krainis hit two three-pointers as Windham answered by pulling away more. They were able to maintain the lead until the final buzzer.

“The guys just played hard,” said Windham varsity boys’ basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen. “We’re trying to find out our identity, trying to figure out the chemistry our guys can have. We’re trying to find roles ... and I was proud of the guys; they did what they needed to do defensively. That’s what we can control how hard we play on the defensive side; our guys were pretty aligned there. We moved the ball really well and made a lot of shots, so that was important. What we need to work on is helpside defense, we let up a little bit and we got to keep that mentality to fighting to the last whistle and not give in; don’t worry about the scoreboard, just play through it. Those things we can improve on, we got a young team. Summer’s been great; the kids are bonding getting together, participation numbers are really big. Guys are getting into the gym early and getting their own shots up, so (there’s) a lot of hunger.” <

WHS boys’ basketball shows improvement against Lewiston

By Matt Pascarella

Windham’s varsity boys’ basketball stepped onto the court against Lewiston at home for the second time this season on Thursday, Feb. 2, which was Senior Night and Windham Youth Basketball Night. Windham turned in a strong effort and kept it close, but Lewiston remained a few points out of reach and won 54-47.

Windham junior Blake McPherson is aggressively first to
reach the ball during a prep basketball game against
Lewiston at Windham High on Thursday, Feb. 2.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

Windham seniors Owen Combes and Chase Wescott were presented with a small gift as a thank you for their dedication to Windham Athletics throughout their high school careers.

“I’m proud of Chase and Owen and their commitment to the program,” said Windham varsity boys’ basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen. Those are two outstanding kids who are going to be successful at the next level in life and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in the future.”

Combes received the Windham Youth Basketball Little Eyes Upon You Award presented by Maine Optometry. This award goes to a senior that demonstrates commitment to the youth in their community.

“It meant a lot from the youth,” said Combes. “I know they appreciate me helping them out playing basketball and it was a great to see I’m a good role model on and off the court.”

Right from the start, Windham showed Lewiston they came to play when Eagle defense blocked a shot. Lewiston took a small lead, but soon the game was tied at 16. Windham defense kept the game close. Windham sunk a buzzer beater before the end of the half but trailed 27-22.

In the second half, a lot of Windham players hit three-pointers including Combes, freshman AJ Moody, juniors Blake McPherson and Erik Bowen and sophomore Creighty Dickson. Every time Lewiston pulled away, Windham was right there to remind them this was not their game to walk away with.

Windham had a two to three-point deficit for most of the second half; foul shots gave Lewiston the chance to pull ahead.

“Our effort was there,” said Wescott. “I felt like we battled hard. It all comes down to rebounding and the ball going in the hoop – some shots weren’t falling. Some calls weren’t going our way, but we stayed together through it – that’s all we could do.”

Wescott said Lewiston got too many offensive rebounds. Windham turned the ball over a lot in the first half; and if you take away those, the score might be different.

“We had great effort, great defense. We just got to focus on the bigger things like rebounding and transition defense,” said Combes. “We got their two best players out of the game early and got good shots. The ball just didn’t fall for us tonight; ball movement was there, and our help side defense went really well.”

According to Combes, if Windham stopped Lewiston from getting more offensive rebounds, getting more defensive rebounds and boxing out better, maybe they could have flipped the score.

Windham improved significantly from earlier in the season when Lewiston won 82-67.

“Our guys battled really hard tonight, they did some damage in the paint, but getting back into transition was a focus and the kids battled; rebounding-wise ... today I thought we did a good job. Windham fought hard the second half – we got a lot of really good looks. Sometimes the ball doesn't drop but the guys worked their butt offs to get wide-open shots for us to have a chance.”

Pulkkinen said when you’re down one possession with just 3 minutes left, every time you turn the ball over it’s hard. Lewiston’s a good team and Windham hung in there with them.

He said he was proud of how his guys played their hearts out for Chase and Owen. <

Windham girls’ basketball shows improvement against Bangor

Varsity senior Sarah Talon heads to the hoop mid-air
during Windham's girls' prep basketball game against Bangor
at home on Jan. 14. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham girls’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams played two great games against Bangor at home where they fought until the end on Jan. 14.

After Bangor beat the varsity team by almost 30 points at Bangor in a year-end game, the Lady Eagles showed the Rams that would not happen again. In a very close game, Bangor tried but Windham held them off and won 46-40.

The JV team wanted to take home a win too and worked hard to do so. Bangor jumped to an early lead and could not be caught. Windham did not get down on themselves and stuck with it until the end. Bangor got a 50-22 win.

Varsity

Windham senior Kayla Flanders got the game going with a three-pointer. This was followed up quickly by junior Elizabeth Levesque who sunk another three-pointer.

Windham was quick to grab rebounds and jumped out to an early lead.

The game turned close when Bangor pulled ahead by one. After Windham senior Carly Morey and Flanders each hit three-pointers, Windham pulled away again. Windham led 29-20 at the half.

Windham sophomore Brooke Gerry sunk a three. Bangor was grabbing rebounds and catching up.

With 1:44 left on the clock Windham led by five. With 5.7 seconds left they led by six and stayed ahead until the buzzer.

“I think we knew what happened last game and we wanted to ... move on,” said senior Sarah Talon. “We had all this week to make adjustments and learn from our mistakes last game. It was a really good team win.”

Windham girls’ basketball coach Brody Artes said going into this game they knew they needed to be tougher physically and mentally. Artes said Windham executed, defended, and rebounded better this game. He was very happy with the team for the turnaround and said a lot of kids stepped up and made big plays.

Junior Varsity

Bangor took an early lead. Windham worked well as they passed, but this led to turnovers as Bangor was quick to interfere.

Windham freshman Dakota Small added points to the scoreboard. So did freshman Chloe Edwards. Windham defense was better in the second quarter, as they allowed Bangor fewer scoring opportunities. At halftime Bangor was ahead 23-11.

“We moved the ball really well and did a good job working as a team,” said sophomore Alyssa Conley. “We talked a lot on defense and were a cohesive unit; never getting down on one another, always picking each other up.”

Windham made a bit of a comeback in the second half as they slowly gained; the effort was there, but not all shots were falling. Windham stayed positive but couldn’t catch Bangor.

“We really have been focusing on rebounding in that getting second chance opportunities on offense and limiting their chances on defense,” said Windham JV coach Gretchen Anderson. “Bangor’s press caused us a little bit of trouble, but again, we are learning and adjusting. I’m really proud of how ... they played, they kept their heads up and played really hard.” <