‘Jammers knock off top seed PI ‘Cats Caribou up next for No. 8 Camden Hills

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BANGOR – Presque Isle built its undefeated record and No. 1 tourney seed with a balanced, guard-oriented attack.

Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats ran into a team that excelled at the very same style.

Eighth-seeded Camden Hills overcame an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit behind scrappy defense and clutch shooting while knocking off the Wildcats 47-44 in an Eastern Maine girls quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

Coach Jay Carlsen’s 14-6 Windjammers face No. 4 Caribou, a 47-40 winner over fifth-seeded Winslow, in Wednesday’s 8:35 p.m. semifinal.

“We were behind that whole fourth quarter and to come back and win it, that’s just unbelievable,” Carlsen said.

Camden Hills was not intimidated by the prospect of facing No. 1 Presque Isle.

“Coming in a lower seed, no one expects you to do anything, especially No. 8 against No. 1,” said Windjammers junior Samantha Wiley (13 points). “When you come in No. 8, you can just play your basketball.”

That was aggressive man-to-man defense designed to contain the Wildcats and contest their 3-point shooters. The ‘Jammers held PI to one field goal in the last six minutes.

Carlsen used a Muhammad Ali quote to help motivate his team: “It’s more about the will than it is about the skill.”

“I told them, if we can do all the little things: get more loose balls, get more rebounds, get more tipped passes… we might be in a position to win,” Carlsen said.

Presque Isle led 42-34, but after a Camden Hills timeout with 6:01 left, the Windjammers caught the wind in their sails.

Marianne Croce (13 points) got the rally started with a 3-pointer, then Wiley answered consecutive offensive fouls by PI with a 3-pointer and two foul shots to tie the game at 42-42.

The Wildcats missed three straight free throws and Croce made sure the ‘Jammers would keep the momentum when her 3-pointer bounced three times on the rim and dropped through to give Camden Hills a 45-52 lead.

PI’s struggles continued with an “air ball” and a player-control foul. Wiley made two more free throws, before PI’s Natasha Deschene hit an eight-footer with 20.3 seconds left to cut the deficit to three.

The Wildcats forced a turnover, but Camden Hills defended well and Deschene’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was short.

“They hit over 100 3’s during the regular season,” Carlsen said. “We had to defend the 3-point line.”

Claire Neville pulled down 10 rebounds for Camden Hills, which held a 30-19 edge on the boards. Kristen Richards added six points for the winners.

Anna DeLong paced Presque Isle with 11 points. Kylan Smith netted 10 and Melissa DeMerchant grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points.

In the earlier game, Caribou’s inside tandem of Monica Selander and Lindsay Burlock proved too much for Winslow. Selander connected for 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Burlock posted 12 points and 13 boards as the 15-4 Vikings prevailed.

Selander hit an eight-footer, canned two free throws and provided a fast-break layup and foul shot during a pivotal 9-0 fourth-quarter scoring run that turned a four-point deficit into a 40-35 lead with 2:13 to play.

That came after the 6-foot junior picked up her fourth foul eight seconds into the quarter. Selander fouled out with 1:23 left, but the Vikes made seven of 10 foul shots to hold on.

Winslow (14-5) battled and played outstanding defense in the third quarter , containing Selander and Burlock while taking the lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Black Raiders couldn’t keep the ball out of their hands in the fourth.

Brittany Morin led Winslow with 12 points, Stephanie Bossie posted 11 and Sarah Roderigue added nine points and 10 rebounds. Amanda Byrne handed out five assists and made four steals.

VIKINGS 47, BLACK RAIDERS 40

Winslow (14-6) Caribou (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Byrne 0 6 0 0 0 Gahagan 1 3 5

Morin 4 8 1 2 12 Ouellette 0 2

Lapointe 3 7 0 0 6 Burlock 3 10 13 12

Bossie 5 8 1 2 11 Selander 8 23

S.Roderigue 4 14 1 2 9 Harrigan 1 3

Gagne 0 0 0 0 0 Willey 0 1 0

A.Roderigue 0 0 0 0 0 Morrell 0 3 2

Peters 0 1 0 0 0

Carter 1 5 0 0 2

Boutin 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 17 50 3 6 40 Totals 13 35 18 28 47

Winslow 10 18 29 40

Caribou 14 22 28 47

3-pt. goals ? Winslow (3-16): Byrne 0-3, Morin 3-5, Lapointe 0-3, S. Roderigue 0-5; Caribou (3-12): Gahagan 1-2, Harrigan 1-5, Burlock 1-2, Selander 0-1, Morrell 0-2

WINDJAMMERS 47, WILDCATS 44

Camden Hills (14-6) Presque Isle (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Wiley 3 8 6 6 13 Deschene 2 4

Gushee 2 6 0 0 5 A. DeLong 5 11

Neville 1 2 0 2 2 Post 0 8 5

Hart 1 4 2 2 4 K. DeLong 1 2 4

Croce 4 7 3 6 13 DeMerchant 3 8

Freisland 1 1 0 0 2 Smith 4 9 10

Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Morris 1 3 2

Newcomb 0 0 0 0 0 Richards 0 0

Holgerson 0 0 2 2 2

Richards 3 6 0 0 6

Totals 15 34 13 18 47 Totals 16 43 10 16 44

Camden Hills 11 22 32 47

Presque Isle 11 23 37 44

3-pt. goals ? Camden Hills (4-11): Wiley 1-2, Gushee 1-3, Richards 0-1, Hart 0-2, Croce 2-3; Presque Isle (2-12): Deschene 0-2, Post 0-4, Smith 2-6