No. 1 Camden Hills survives, to battle MCI next

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BANGOR – It took a debated foul call, two clutch free throws with 20.7 seconds left, and a last-second defensive stand, but top-seeded Camden Hills was able to put a stop to the rash of upsets in the Eastern Maine Class B boys tournament.

Camden Hills barely survived a 57-55 thriller against No. 9 Houlton Saturday afternoon to become the only top-four seed to advance to the semifinals.

The 17-2 Windjammers will take on No. 5 and Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference foe Maine Central Institute in an 8:35 p.m. Wednesday semifinal. The 12-8 Huskies of Pittsfield moved on with a 65-59 victory over No. 4 Erskine Academy of South China in Saturday’s early game.

Like the other three quarterfinals, the last one came down to the final minutes, Unlike them, it also went down to the final second.

After Camden opened up a 17-8 lead five minutes into the game, Houlton responded with a 13-0 run to take its first lead. From that point on, the largest lead by either team was six points (25-19 Houlton midway through the second quarter).

Five of the lead changes in the game came in the final four minutes, but it was the last one that everyone was talking about.

Houlton clinged to a 55-53 lead as Camden Hills senior point guard Nick Wilson grabbed the ball on the right wing and began a drive to the right block. Wilson collided with Houlton’s Derek Belyea near the low post. The contact immediately drew whistles and raised arms from two of the three officials, but neither signalled which way the foul went. After they conferred for several seconds, Belyea was called for the foul.

“I was nervous. I was thinking if I got a charge, I might have lost the game for us. If it was a block, I had a chance to win it,” Wilson said. “It seemed like it was 10 minutes before they made the call, but it helped me focus on the shots better. I was so relieved, I didn’t think about being nervous.”

Wilson calmly drained both shots for the last two of his four total points and the Shires called a timeout to set up a play.

With 6.7 seconds left and no apparent shots inside, senior forward Jay O’Connell (10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks) got the ball on the left wing and let fly a 3-point shot. The ball bounced off the opposite side rim, off someone’s hands, and right back to O’Connell, this time in the left corner. With a second to go, O’Connell let fly again, but again the shot bounced off the opposite rim to the right as the buzzer blared.

“We waited too long, but I thought both shots were going in,” said Shires coach Jerry Adams. “I think they made the wrong call, but it was a tough one … and it didn’t cost us the game. The bottom line is we were up by four late and we didn’t execute.”

Houlton led 55-51 with 1:48 to play, but back-to-back turnovers in the next 49 seconds plus two straight by Camden’s John Knutson (23 points) tied it and set up Wilson’s play. The Shires also missed two free throws in the last three minutes, one a crucial 1-and-1 with 2:28 left.

The loss overshadowed standout performances from Shire forwards James Skehan (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Peter Bates (12 points, 10 boards).

Brian Fitzpatrick had 12 for Camden while junior guard Peter Moro came off the bench for six rebounds and four assists.

In the early game, junior guard Andrew St. Clair rode hot first-half shooting to a 22-point performance and helped lead the Huskies to a win in the rubber game against their KVAC foes.

The Huskies jumped out to a 13-1 lead and never trailed in the game, although the Eagles got within two and four points midway through the game and five with 3:12 left, but MCI pulled away despite shooting 6-for-14 from the line in the last quarter.

St. Clair also had seven boards, four assists, and two steals. Center Mike Susi also had a great effort with 10 points and a game-high 17 rebounds – 11 in the fourth quarter.

“I had a little burst of energy then because I knew we had to put these guys away and rebounding was gonna be the key,” said Susi.

Dan Riendeau (11 points, five rebounds) and Ryuto Arakaki (10 points, five assists) also paced MCI.

Sophomore guard Kenny Demuth led Erskine with 23 points and five assists.

Huskies 65, Eagles 59

MCI boys (12-8) Erskine (8-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Arakaki 4 7 0 0 10 Demuth 10 20 0 23

Asato 0 1 0 0 0 Ferran 0 0 0 0

St. Clair 10 17 1 8 22 Hicks 2 5 5

Vad 2 6 0 0 4 Farrington 1 2 2

Riendeau 5 7 1 5 11 Potter 0 0 0

Hall 2 2 2 4 6 Bearce 0 0 1 1

Bennett 0 0 0 0 0 Donar 6 11 1 15

Bolster 1 3 0 0 2 Janosky 1 4 0 2

Susi 4 7 2 3 10 Stout 3 8 0 7

Haskell 0 0 0 0

Roy 0 0 2 2

Ecker 0 5 2 2

Totals 28 50 6 20 65 Totals 23 55 7 16 59

Maine Central Institute 19 32 48 65

Erskine Academy 15 28 39 59

3-pt. goals: MCI (3-4): Arakaki 2-2, St. Clair 1-1, Vad 0-1; Erskine (6-11): Demuth 3-5, Donar 2-2, Stout 1-3, Farrington 0-1

Windjammers 57, Shires 55

Houlton boys (7-13) Camden Hills (17-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

J. O?Connell 3 8 3 5 10 Wilson 1 6 4

Drake 0 0 0 0 0 Dugal 3 9 1 7

Fitzpatrick 4 5 2 2 10 Gabriele 0 0

Belyea 0 1 0 0 0 Moro 0 2 1 1

Bates 4 11 4 6 12 Fitzpatrick 4 14 12

L. O?Connell 1 2 0 0 2 Warren 0 8 0

Skehan 9 15 3 7 21 Smith 0 0 0 0

Dennen 1 1 0 2

Lippman 3 5 2 8

Knutson 11 20 0 23

Totals 21 42 12 20 55 Totals 23 66 8 11 57

Houlton 17 30 42 55

Camden Hills 17 28 43 57

3-pt. goals: Houlton (1-7): L. O?Connell 1-5, Belyea 0-1, Bates 0-1; Camden Hills (3-22): Fitzpatrick 2-8, Knutson 1-4, Gabriele 0-1, Wilson 0-2, Dugal 0-3, Warren 0-4