BARRE ― The final Vermont high school girls basketball game of the 2025-26 season ended in an overtime thriller.
Hazen’s Kelsie Rivard redeemed herself from a free throw miss at the end of regulation by scoring the final four points in overtime including a pair of free throws as No. 1 Hazen defeated No. 2 Windsor 55-53 in overtime giving the Wildcats their second title in three years.
“I’m like ‘We got to battle and win this, it’s not over yet and in overtime we are bringing it home,'” Rivard said. “(I just thought) don’t miss it (on her overtime free throws).”
Rivard paced the Wildcats’ offense scoring a game-high 30 points with the junior’s free throw make at the end of regulation sending the contest into overtime tied at 48-all. Mya Lumsden was the other Wildcat to score double-digits with 12 points.
This game was all back and forth during the final 20 minutes with 13 lead changes in the second half and overtime alone. Neither team took a lead larger than four points over the final 20 minutes.
“It was just down to who wanted it more,” Lumsden said. “It was a game of runs and I think at the end it was just all of us together we just brought it.”
Last offseason Hazen moved over to the tougher Capital Division from the Mountain Division. That move paid dividends for the Wildcats and an additional non-league game against Champlain Valley to open up the season. Hazen suffered losses in the regular season to Champlain Valley and Lamoille while earning a win against North Country.
“The Capital Division definitely prepared us for it (with) bigger and stronger athletes from bigger schools,” Wildcats head coach Randy Lumsden said. “Those games really helped us for moments like this to stay unrattled.”
There was no better moment to encapsulate that then a play Lumsden’s daughter Mya Lumsden made in overtime. Mya Lumsden got her shot blocked, but the ball went straight back to her. The junior dribbled the ball into the paint and scored a layup giving the Wildcats a one-point lead at the time, before Rivard came up clutch.
Windsor’s head coach Kabray Rockwood believed the biggest reason for the Yellow Jackets loss was to due to fouls. Nobody fouled out, but seven players picked up three fouls and Hazen capitalized shooting 13-of-20 from the free throw line.
“It was the situational fouls and the time those occurred,” Rockwood said. “We battled hard and had opportunities to win, but we didn’t get it done.”
The Yellow Jackets had a balanced offensive attack with Callie Spaulding (14 points), Amelia Rockwood (13 points) and Cassie Clark (11 points) scoring double-digits. Windsor was making its fifth straight appearance in the championship game and Kabray Rockwood noted that teams can’t win every championship.
This was the third straight season seeing Windsor and Hazen play each other in Barre with the teams splitting the pair. (Hazen won the 2024 championship and Windsor won the 2025 meeting in the semifinals.) This was the closest matchup from the three most recent meetings. Hazen left with the team’s fifth ever championship.
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
