THORNDIKE – Coach Jay Carlsen doesn’t quite know what to make of the way Lucy Sommo has played lately for his Camden Hills girls basketball team.

But whatever it is, he doesn’t want her to stop – especially after Saturday night’s game against Mount View, a 66-45 victory for the Windjammers.

Carlsen didn’t know Sommo’s career high for points in a game, but it surely wasn’t more than the 23 points she poured in against the Mustangs.

“Oh yeah,” Carlsen said emphatically. “Lucy hasn’t been a scorer before. She’s played well the last three games. She’s been our leading scorer.”

Not only did the senior forward lead Camden again, but she scored 12 points in the critical second quarter, in which 5-1 Camden Hills regained the lead for good.

The Windjammers had a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter and extended it to three points when Sommo put in a fast-break layup. But Mount View’s Megan Swanson scored on two straight possessions and the Mustangs took a 15-14 lead.

After a timeout and a foul called on each team, Sommo converted a conventional three-point play for a two-point lead. Ashley Barnard tied it up again for the Mustangs when she hit a jumper off a pass from Heather Carter.

That was the closest Mount View would come. Megan Dailey hit both ends of a 1-and-1 (helped along by a lane violation call on the Mustangs), Sommo completed another three-point play and then hit a fast-break layup to make it 25-17.

“We really ran the floor well in the second quarter and then starting off in the second half and that really helped us,” Sommo said.

The Mustangs got into a groove with baskets from Amy Miles, Danielle Mayer and Jessica York to cut Camden Hills’ lead to 25-23, but two Charlotte Croce free throws, another Sommo basket (this time off a pass from Jenny Ford) and a Hannah Rokes jumper with less than 10 seconds left closed out the half for a 31-25 lead.

Sommo cooled off after halftime but Camden Hills senior Andrea Blanchard came alive with 15 of her 17 points in the second half.

The Windjammers made 10 of their 16 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Mount View struggled from the line, going 12-for-22 in the game.

Mayer (10 points) was called for her fourth foul with 2:08 left in the third quarter and Carter picked up her third foul early in the fourth quarter.

“We just didn’t get the shots,” Mount View coach Shara MacDonald said. “We had opportunities to score, went up two or three times, and didn’t take advantage. … Having a couple of girls on the bench with foul trouble didn’t help.”

Improved rebounding made the difference for the Windjammers.

“That was our focus for the second half, to rebound and pick up our defensive intensity,” said Blanchard, who is recovering from an ankle injury.

“We got a lot more fast-break opportunities because we rebounded better in the second half,” Carlsen said. “In the first half [Mount View was] getting the rebounds and I bet they scored three-quarters of their points on second- or third-chance opportunities … In the second half the kids came out more poised.”

Carlsen believes poise has been the key for Sommo.

“I think she’s playing a little more under control,” he said. “The first part of the season she was a little erratic. She’s doing a better job of staying balanced on the court defensively. Offensively, she’s doing a much better job of finishing.”

WINDJAMMERS 66, MUSTANGS 45

Camden Hills (5-1) Mount View (2-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dailey 1 2 4 6 6 Mayer 3 14 10

Ford 1 2 0 0 2 Hunter 1 2 0 2

Wiley 0 0 0 0 0 Miles 2 6 4

Rokes 2 4 0 0 4 Barnard 2 8 4

Sommo 8 11 7 8 23 Swanson 3 10 9

Winchenbach 0 0 0 0 0 Whitcomb 0 0

Orhon 0 2 0 0 0 Caler 1 7 2

Croce 1 7 4 4 6 York 2 5 6

Laite 1 3 0 4 2 Carter 2 14 8

Carleton 1 2 0 0 2 Drummond 0 0

Blanchard 7 12 3 4 17

McIntyre 1 3 0 1 2

Hoffman 1 2 0 2 2

Totals 24 50 18 29 66 16 66 12 22 45

Camden Hills 12 31 44 66

Mount View 11 25 34 45

3-pt. goals: Camden Hills (0-6): Laite 0-1, Blanchard 0-1, Orhon 0-2, Croce 0-2; Mount View (1-9): Mayer 1-5, Barnard 0-1, Caler 0-1, York 0-1, Carter 0-1

Attendance: 200 (est.)

Preliminary: Camden JVs 47-25