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BANGOR – Camden Hills of Rockport has this formula for winning titles. Play your way into the tournament gradually, struggle with your shooting so skeptics begin to look elsewhere for championship favorites, then elevate your game to a level no one else can match.
That formula worked again Saturday night as undefeated Camden Hills downed Foxcroft Academy 76-59 to win its fifth Eastern Maine Class B championship in the last eight years.
The Windjammers shot 50 percent (29 of 58) from the field against Foxcroft’s zone defense, working the ball inside for baskets or passing it back outside for 3-point shots. Either way, the Ponies couldn’t stop them.
“I think it was one of our best games,” said CH senior forward Tim Stammen, an offensive catalyst from the high post. “We came out and shot the ball real well, which is what we needed to do against their zone. We got the ball in the middle of the floor, looked at the rim, and if the shots were there, we shot, if they weren’t, we looked opposite and looked for the shot there.”
Stammen had 19 points, four rebounds and four assists, while senior point guard Jamey Davis shook off an early injury to finish with 16 points and five assists.
Their favorite passing target was junior forward Cameron Puls, who worked behind the Foxcroft defense and on the backboards to score 15 points and grab eight rebounds.
“When you’re in the middle of the floor like I was and get the ball, and you start hitting shots, it’s like the whole floor opens up, and lucky for us it did,” said Stammen. “We hit shots, and as a result Cameron was open on the bottom and we had even more shooters open on the perimeter.”
Senior guard Will Horn added three 3-point goals to help advance top-ranked Camden Hills (21-0) to Saturday’s 8:35 p.m. state final at the Augusta Civic Center against Western B champion Gorham (19-2). Coach Jeff Hart’s Windjammers, who have won three state titles in the last seven years, defeated Gorham in both the 2001 and 2002 finals.
Second-ranked Foxcroft, seeking its first EM crown since its state championship season of 1975, finished 18-3. The Ponies got 20 points and 11 rebounds from senior center Kyle Rideout and 16 points from senior forward Matt Carey.
“Camden shot the lights out,” said Foxcroft coach David Carey. “If they shot like they did in the first two games here, we’re in pretty good shape. But it seemed like every time we got a good close-out on one side, they’d make a reverse pass, sometimes with a hand in their face. It wasn’t like they were uncontested, they made some tough shots.”
Matt Carey hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second quarter to give Foxcroft a 25-19 lead and, when Davis hit his head on the floor during a collision in the lane and had to leave the game momentarily, the Ponies seemingly had some momentum.
Instead Camden Hills scored the game’s next 11 points to take the lead for good. Stammen started the run with a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup, and Davis’ replacement, senior guard David Pike, converted a three-point play set up by a Horn steal.
Puls then worked the offensive boards for a 3-point play, and Camden Hills suddenly had a 30-25 lead. The margin was 36-29 at the break, and Camden Hills made seven of its first nine shots after intermission. The ‘Jammers build their lead to 51-35 when Davis threw a behind-the-back pass into a crowd of players in the lane but somehow managed to get it back and score with 3:12 left in the third period.
Foxcroft never saw a single-digit deficit again.
“This was a clutch performance by our team,” said Davis. “We’ve had individual performances throughout the season that were real good, but we came together tonight.”
WINDJAMMERS 76, PONIES 59
Foxcroft Acad. (18-3) Camden Hills (21-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Cynewski 1 4 0 0 3 Horn 3 6 9
McKusick 0 0 0 0 0 Davis 5 10 16
Prescott 2 8 1 2 6 Pike 3 5 7
Tirrell 0 0 0 0 0 Wooton 0 1 2
LaCasce 0 0 0 2 0 Stein 0 0 1
Berce 0 0 0 0 0 Mitchell 0 0
Carey 6 14 2 4 16 Kerr 0 0 0
Croan 2 4 1 4 5 Bryant 0 1 0
Gilbert 4 11 0 2 9 Stammen 8 15 19
Rideout 7 12 6 9 20 Puls 7 12 15
Tedford 3 8 0 7
Totals 22 53 10 23 59 Totals 29 58 11 15 76
Foxcroft Academy 19 29 43 59
Camden Hills 17 36 56 76
3-pt. goals – Foxcroft Acad. (5-12): Carey 2-3, Cynewski 1-2, Gilbert 1-2, Prescott 1-4, Croan 0-1; Camden Hills (7-19): Horn 3-6, Davis 2-4, Tedford 1-3, Stammen 1-4, Pike 0-2
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