BANGOR – A lot was made going into Friday’s Class B girls state championship game of the similarities between Eastern Maine entry Camden Hills and the Western Maine winner Greely of Cumberland Center.

And it was all about defense.

Both teams favored man-to-man, full-court pressure, but it was Greely’s half-court defense that proved to be too much for the Windjammers.

The Rangers overcame early foul trouble and took a big lead in the third quarter to roll over Camden Hills 54-36 at the Bangor Auditorium.

“We knew if we came out of halftime strong, show them we had the third quarter, things would work,” said Greely senior center Abby Marstaller.

Greely, which lost to MDI in the state game last year, earned its first Class B crown since it won two straight in 1983-84.

Camden Hills, which was the No. 8 seed for the regional tournament, finished its season at 16-7.

Junior guard Brigitte Demers paced the 20-2 Rangers with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.

Demers was also responsible for guarding Camden Hills sophomore Kayla Gushee, who hit some big shots in the Eastern Maine tournament. She finished with nine points, all on 3-pointers. But because the Windjammers weren’t able to go inside with any consistency, they had to take a lot of perimeter shots.

Camden Hills hit four of 14 3-point attempts.

The Windjammers made only four field goals in the first half, but managed to get to the free-throw line because the Rangers started to foul early.

The Rangers put senior guard Steph Ginn on Windjammer junior Samantha Wiley. That was the key matchup for Greely.

“She did great. We’ve been putting her on [the opposition’s] best player all year long,” said the 6-foot Marstaller, who scored seven points and had seven rebounds and three assists.

Michelle Robb was responsible for guarding Camden Hills’ Marianne Croce, who was among the Windjammers’ scoring leaders this year.

Croce finished with a team-best 10 points.

Greely forced 13 turnovers while committing 11.

“They’re a mirror image of us, and we didn’t come out and play our game tonight,” Wiley said. “We let them control the tempo, which is half-court. We played right into their hands. They’re a good team.”

Demers connected on her first long-distance shot of the game early in the third quarter. The basket broke an 18-18 tie that gave Greely the lead for good.

Demers hit a long jumper about a minute later and Ginn hit a free throw to make it 24-18. The Rangers had a 10-point lead later in the quarter thanks to baskets by Ginn and Gray, both of which came off Marstaller passes.

Robb went 6-for-8 from the line in the second half.

“They scored more than half of their points on the line, so we knew we had to stop fouling,” Marstaller said. “In the second half we stepped it up on defense and our shots started to go in.”

The Rangers didn’t have any turnovers or fouls in the third quarter.

Claire Neville led Camden Hills with six rebounds.

RANGERS 54, WINDJAMMERS 36

Greely (20-2) Camden Hills (16-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Daigle 0 0 1 2 1 Wiley 2 10 6

Demers 5 9 3 4 16 Freisland 0 0

Davis 1 1 2 2 4 Smith 0 3 0

Sicard 0 1 0 0 0 Newcomb 0 1 0

Cassidy 1 2 0 0 2 Butler 0 0 0

Dickson 1 4 2 3 4 Holgerson 2 4

Ginn 2 5 2 4 6 Gushee 3 7 0 9

Wyatt 0 0 0 0 0 Neville 2 3 5

Marstaller 3 6 1 2 7 Richards 1 2

Robb 0 2 6 8 6 Perry 0 0 0 0

Gray 2 6 0 0 4 Hart 0 3 0 0

Jordan 2 3 0 0 4 Croce 3 9 10

Totals 17 39 17 25 54 13 39 13 36

Greely 8 18 35 54

Camden Hills 5 15 25 36

3-pt. goals ? Greely (3-5): Demers 3-4, Ginn 0-1; Camden Hills (4-14): Gushee 3-6, Croce 1-2, Smith 0-1, Hart 0-1, Wiley 0-4