SUFFIELD, Conn. – Preston Edmead was made for March.

After monster games in the NEPSAC Class A quarterfinal and semifinal, the No. 1 Williston-Northampton School boys basketball guard capped off his stellar postseason with a game-high 26 points, including a 3-point barrage down the stretch to stamp the Wildcats’ 75-57 win over No. 2 Phillips Exeter on Sunday afternoon at Suffield Academy.

Edmead, a Hofstra commit and NEPSAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, hit every big shot for Williston to help secure the program’s first NEPSAC crown since 2016.

“It was a crazy moment,” Edmead said. “The game was [winding] down, and I knew I had to take over. That just comes from confidence within my teammates, and within my coach. They know I had a good matchup, and they know I could do good there at the end. The confidence that comes from them is just great.”

Williston finished the season 25-1, and the Wildcats left no doubt that they were the best team in Class A all year long. Kyle Seltzer and Ricardo Nieves added 15 points apiece, and each player that checked in during Sunday’s contest made an impact in some way.

When the final buzzer sounded, Williston charged toward its student section and celebrated on the floor with the well-traveled Wildcats faithful.

“It’s been an incredible season, one that I’ll remember, that I’m sure our team’s going to remember, for the rest of our lives,” Williston head coach Ben Farmer said. “Stuff like this, being on a team like this, it doesn’t happen all the time. So we just really tried to appreciate every moment that we had together, and this started all the way back in September. These guys put in so much work in the fall… six days a week. They’ve earned everything that they’ve gotten and I just couldn’t be happier for them. I’m so proud.”

Exeter had no answer for Williston out of the gate. The Wildcats charged ahead to claim a 23-6 lead at the midway point of the first half, and an Edmead triple prompted a timeout. The Lions answered with a pair of 3s of their own out of the huddle, but Seltzer elevated for a highlight dunk in the face of an Exeter defender, then Nieves knocked down two long balls to continue the Williston onslaught.

Eight Wildcat 3-point field goals led to a 38-27 halftime lead. That shooting didn’t cool down in the locker room. Williston made seven more in the second half. The 15 total makes from distance may seem like a lot, but Farmer has coached his team to play that way all season given its skill set and athleticism. Nieves and Seltzer buried back-to-back 3s to make it 55-37 at the 9:26 mark of the second half. Later, an Ashton Reynolds two-handed slam built Williston’s lead to 20 (65-45).

Edmead took care of the rest.

He shrugged off a lot of contact from the Exeter defense – although frustrated there were no fouls being called – by hitting two highlight-reel 3s. Both came off of sweet crossover moves to create enough space to get a shot up, and each one swished through.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling as a head coach when you have a player like that on the floor, especially at the point-guard spot,” Farmer said of Edmead. “He’s so solid with the basketball. He’s obviously scoring at a very high rate right now. He’s in his second year now with us, and his improvement and growth over two years has been tremendous. The kid’s an absolute junkie. He loves the game… He’s going to have an incredible college career.”

The quick start was much to the enjoyment of the Williston-heavy crowd at Suffield Academy, and once the Wildcats were ahead by double digits, Exeter never got its deficit closer than 10.

“We tried not to pay too much attention to the scoreboard,” Farmer said. “We just go out there and play, and do what we do. Being here, having this incredible support, we’re very fortunate. Getting off to that great start really put us in position for the rest of the game.”

Williston hadn’t raised a NEPSAC trophy since 2016, when it won its second straight championship (including 2015). But the Wildcats had a feeling this could be the team to bring another title back to Easthampton. From the beginning of the season, all the way back during fall practice, there was only one motto this group would say as it broke every single huddle.

It came full circle as the Williston players said that motto one final time after winning the 2025 championship.

“We’re super connected,” Edmead said. “I remember from the start of the season, from our first practice, every time we broke it down in the huddle we would say, ‘Chip season on 3,’ and we manifested this championship. Every day we all came together, just a super tight group… I’m a senior, it’s a great way to go out.”

Girls hockey

NEPSAC semis

No. 5 Andover 3, No. 1 Williston 0 – The top-seeded Wildcats saw their stellar season come to an end in the semifinal round of the NEPSAC Elite tourney on Saturday, falling to Phillips Academy Andover, 3-0, at Lossone Rink in Easthampton.

Williston closed its season with a 22-3-1 overall record.

Boys hockey

MIAA Div. 1 semis

No. 4 Catholic Memorial 1, No. 1 Pope Francis 0 – Jack McCourt netted the game’s only goal with 8:24 remaining in the third period to lift the Knights to the Div. 1 championship game, as Catholic Memorial scored a 1-0 win over the Cardinals at Tsongas Center in Lowell on Sunday.

Catholic Memorial will play either Saint John’s or Arlington in the state final.

The Knights held a 30-12 edge in shots on goal in the win, with Pope Francis goalie Nick Ritchie making 29 saves in a standout performance.