AUGUSTA – As a five-point lead vanished in the final 89 seconds of Saturday night’s Class B boys basketball state final, so, too, was Camden Hills of Rockport looking for its missing momentum.

The Windjammers found it in the most likely place, in Tim Stammen’s versatile game.

The 6-foot-3 senior forward scored his team’s first seven points of overtime and had nine points overall in the extra period as undefeated Camden Hills outlasted Gorham 66-63 to win its third gold ball in five years – all at the expense of the Rams.

“Most of the seniors have been playing together since first grade,” said Stammen. “We’re a closely knit group and it’s been our goal since we were in the first, second or third grade and started winning tournaments. It was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to go all the way and win that gold ball.'”

Camden Hills (22-0) never trailed in regulation after Nick Tedford, Will Horn and Davis hit 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that gave the ‘Jammers a 41-34 lead entering the fourth quarter.

That lead withstood a Gorham challenge early in the final period, when Ben Thayer hit a 3-pointer and Max Bass made two free throws to help pull the Rams within 43-40. Yet the undefeated Windjammers kept their composure and their advantage, with two Stammen free throws providing a 52-47 lead with 1:42 left.

But Gorham guard Andrew Dean – a sophomore whose name wasn’t even listed in the game program – hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left and fed Josh Tanguay for a game-tying layup with 56 seconds to play.

A 3-point try by Tedford and a follow-up tip by Stammen fell short in the final seconds, and it was on to overtime.

“We were thinking we had to come out and play the game to win, instead of the last couple of minutes when I think we were trying to be conservative and that didn’t work out,” said Stammen. “We realized we had to go out in the overtime and play to win and that’s what we did.”

A Matt Trask runner gave Gorham a 54-52 lead 22 seconds into overtime, the Rams’ first lead since 32-30 midway through the third quarter.

Stammen quickly tied the game with a jumper from the lane, then struck from 3-point land with 2:26 left to give Camden Hills a 57-54 lead.

Thayer drove the lane to pull Gorham back within a point, but Stammen hit two free throws and Davis fed Cameron Puls for a layup with 1:15 left to give the Windjammers temporary command at 61-56.

Gorham (19-3) did get one final chance. Jeff Manchester hit a 3-pointer to pull the Rams within 66-63 with six seconds left.

After a timeout, Tanguay stole the Camden Hills inbounds pass at midcourt and fed Dean, whose 3-point try from the right of the key hit the rim but bounced away as time expired.

“It’s probably the toughest game I’ve ever been in,” said Davis, who was fighting off the effects of the flu. “I honestly don’t remember ever being as tired as I am right now.”

Stammen finished with 29 points, shooting 7 of 15 from the field and 13 of 16 from the line, including 8 of 9 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I’ve said it before and I know I’m biased, but Tim’s the best overall player in the state,” said Camden Hills coach Jeff Hart. “I think he does a lot of things so well. There are other people that shoot it or handle it, but overall I’ll take that kid and his guts every time.”

Davis added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Windjammers, while Tedford shook off foul trouble to contribute 10 points – including a banked-in 3-pointer late in the first half as part of a seven-point run that gave Camden Hills a 26-25 edge at the break. Puls finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Thayer led Gorham with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 6 of 23 from the field matched up against Stammen.

Manchester added 15 points for Gorham, which lost starting center John MacKenzie to a left shoulder injury late in the first quarter. Tanguay filled in admirably for MacKenzie, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

“I thought we had momentum several times and we couldn”t break it open,” said Gorham coach Kevin Jenkins.

WINDJAMMERS 66, RAMS 63 (OT)

Camden Hills (22-0) Gorham (19-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Horn 2 7 0 0 5 Thayer 6 23 5 18

Davis 3 12 5 6 13 Bass 1 4 4

Pike 0 2 0 0 0 Trask 4 8 0 8

Stein 0 0 0 0 0 Ballantyne 2 4

Mitchell 0 0 0 0 0 Manchester 5 14 3 6 15

Kerr 0 0 0 0 0 Tanguay 3 4 0 6

Stammen 7 15 13 16 29 MacKenzie 1 4

Rogers 0 0 0 0 0 Dean 1 3 4

Puls 3 11 3 6 9

Tedford 4 8 0 0 10

Totals 19 55 21 28 66 Totals 23 66 13 23 63

Camden Hills 13 26 41 52 66

Gorham 15 25 34 52 63

3-pt. goals – Camden Hills (7-21): Stammen 2-3, Davis 2-5, Tedford 2-5, Horn 1-6, Pike 0-2; Gorham (4-15): Manchester 2-5, Dean 1-2, Thayer 1-3, Trask 0-2, Ballantyne 0-3