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In an electric atmosphere at BUHS, the eighth-seeded Brattleboro Bears wasted no time setting the tone in their first-round playoff matchup against ninth-seeded Colchester.
Parker Thibault sent a clear message on the opening defensive stand, swatting away a Laker attempt before sprinting the floor and finishing a drop-off pass from Emma Frehsee to open the scoring. Juliette Pals followed with back-to-back baskets, and just like that the Bears had rattled off a quick 6–0 burst, forcing Colchester to burn an early timeout.
Out of the break, Frehsee and Parker Thibault connected once again with Parker finishing at the rim to stretch the lead to 8–0. Brattleboro’s full-court press sped the Lakers up before the Bears settled into a suffocating 2-3 zone in the half court. Thibault then showcased her floor vision, kicking it out to Reese Croutworst for a three that pushed the margin to 11–0 and sent the student section into an early frenzy.
Colchester finally broke through from deep with 2:40 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Bears’ defensive intensity never wavered. From baseline to baseline, Brattleboro made the Lakers earn every inch just to initiate offense. Destiny Thibault added to the surge in her first minute of action, and Bristol chipped in late as the Bears closed the first quarter with a 15–9 advantage.
The Lakers found their footing early in the second, trimming the deficit to 15–11 and keeping things within striking distance. Pals answered with a timely block, and after a brief offensive lull on both ends, Croutworst broke the seal for the Bears with a polished drop step inside. Moments later she poked the ball free and found Pals in transition to push the lead back to seven.
Colchester refused to fold, answering with five quick points to cut the margin to two. You could feel the tension rise in the gym as what was once an 11-point cushion dwindled quickly.
Bristol steadied things with a strong rip-through finish at the rim, then fed Parker Thibault on a smooth pick-and-roll before scoring again herself. Still, every Brattleboro push was met with a Laker response, and the Bears carried a 25–21 lead into the halftime break.
The second half opened with adversity. Croutworst, Brattleboro’s floor general, began the third quarter on the bench due to early foul trouble. The Bears didn’t blink.
Frehsee scored on the opening possession, Caylen Morse followed, and Parker Thibault added another as Brattleboro rattled off six unanswered to ignite the gym once again. Colchester’s outside shooting — which kept them alive all night — answered, trimming the lead back down and setting up a tense finish.
After the game, Head Coach Sarah Landers pointed to composure as the difference.
“We said from the beginning that we wanted to set the tone,” Landers said. “We felt we were the better team, and we talked a lot about controlling the controllables. Going to the ball because they wanted it — we needed to want it more. Rebounds, chasing loose balls, wanting it just a little bit more every single time.”
Colchester’s persistence never allowed the Bears to relax.
“They wouldn’t go away,” Landers continued. “So it was about playing composed. We noticed they can get emotional, and calls were going to go however they were going to go. We just had to keep our heads in it.”
The teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter. Pals capitalized on a clean baseline set for an easy two, while Colchester found cracks in the press for a few clean looks of their own. Heading into the fourth, the Bears clung to a 39–31 advantage with everything still hanging in the balance.
The final frame began with empty trips on both ends before Frehsee secured a rebound and ignited the break, pushing ahead to Parker Thibault, who found Pals at the rim for two. The lead ballooned back to ten, and the BUHS crowd erupted.
Colchester answered from the free-throw line, and the game took on a more physical tone as the reality set in — one team’s season was about to end.
Recognizing the clock as their ally, the Bears slowed their pace and managed possessions carefully. Croutworst returned to the floor and delivered a poised basket in the lane, sparking a brief flurry on both sides. With four minutes remaining, Brattleboro held a 47–38 edge.
Parker Thibault and Croutworst extended the lead to eleven before the inevitable Laker rally trimmed it back down. But with just over a minute to play, Parker Thibault rose for another emphatic block and finished on the other end to provide breathing room.
Moments later, Croutworst snatched a loose ball near midcourt, attacked the rim with authority, and calmly knocked down both free throws to ice it.
Brattleboro 55, Colchester 47.
The trio of Parker Thibault, Juliette Pals, and Reese Croutworst shouldered the scoring load, finishing with 14, 14, and 13 points respectively. Bristol added eight, while Emma Frehsee, Caylen Morse, and Destiny Thibault chipped in two apiece in a balanced team effort.
The Bears survive and advance.
Next up: a road trip to face top-seeded Mt. Mansfield on Friday at 7:00 p.m., where Brattleboro will look to carry its defensive identity into the next challenge.
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