Camden Hills gets coveted title berth Scoring balance defeats Presque Isle

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BANGOR – One year after a disappointing loss in the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals, the Camden Hills boys basketball team is back in the regional final.

Jamey Davis scored 14 points, heading up a group of four players in double figures, as the No. 1 Windjammers rallied from a four-point halftime deficit for a 62-57 semifinal victory over No. 4 Presque Isle Wednesday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

The 20-0 ‘Jammers will face No. 2 Foxcroft Academy, which earned a 59-36 win over No. 3 Erskine of South China in Wednesday night’s first semifinal. The EM final will be Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m.

“There are eight seniors on this team and we brought it. And we’re going to continue,” said senior Tim Stammen, who scored 12 points and contributed eight rebounds and four assists.

The Wildcats wrap up their season with a 15-5 record.

Presque Isle controlled the first half right from the opening tip, rolling out to a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 30-26 edge at halftime.

But the Windjammers quickly rallied to tie the game early in the third as Stammen hit two free throws and then got the ball inside to Cameron Puls to tie the game at 30-30.

Later in the quarter Davis hit a 3-pointer as Camden Hills grabbed its first lead, going up 37-36, and then Will Horn (seven assists) drained another. Presque Isle’s Chris Carlin answered with a jumper, but Nick Tedford (10 points) made another 3-pointer for a 47-42 Camden Hills lead.

Getting more looks inside Presque Isle’s 2-3 zone was key, Stammen said.

“That was a big part of the offensive swing,” he said. “Defensively, we just turned it up.”

The Windjammers maintained the lead, going up 54-47 on a Tedford basket, and after PI’s Matt McGlinn (six assists) made a free throw, Camden Hills had a key possession in which they ran 1:33 off the clock, capped by a Stammen basket off a pass from Horn.

Carlin hit a jumper to cut the lead to 58-50 with 2:54 left, but Tedford scored on a reverse layup and then hit two free throws.

“They got hot from the outside and they score a bundle of points in a hurry,” Wildcats coach Tim Prescott said. “… You’re trying all the time not to let them gain any momentum, and once they gain momentum they’re awfully hard to put a damper on.”

Camden Hills was 6-for-20 from 3-point range and Puls hit all six of his field-goal attempts.

The Windjammers had three turnovers in the final 45 seconds, but the Wildcats got just a Chad Lavway free throw and a Carlin jumper out of those Camden Hills miscues.

“I thought our kids played a really solid basketball game,” Prescott said. “We got them a little bit rattled there at the end and we just couldn’t capitalize on the other end.”

Matt Fowler and Greg Whitaker of Presque Isle each had seven rebounds.

WINDJAMMERS 62, WILDCATS 57

Presque Isle (15-5) Camden Hills (20-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Carlin 5 6 1 2 11 Horn 2 5 6

Belanger 1 1 0 0 2 Davis 5 12 14

Lavway 1 1 1 2 4 Pike 2 5 6

Cray 0 0 0 0 0 Mitchell 1 3 2

Cheney 0 0 0 0 0 Stammen 4 12 12

McGlinn 4 12 5 8 14 Rogers 0 0 0

McLean 0 0 0 0 0 Puls 6 6 12

Wildeman 0 0 0 0 0 Tedford 4 7 10

Coffin 4 13 0 0 8

Whitaker 4 13 3 4 12

Fowler 3 5 0 0 6

Totals 22 51 10 16 57 Totals 24 50 12 62

Presque Isle 13 30 44 57

Camden Hills 9 26 47 62

3-pt. goals – Presque Isle (3-13): Carlin 0-1, Lavway 1-1, McGlinn 1-5, Coffin 0-2, Whitaker 1-4; Camden Hills (6-20): Horn 1-3, Davis 1-4, Pike 2-5, Mitchell 0-1, Stammen 0-2, Tedford 2-5