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BANGOR – Five days after he logged one of the most memorable performances in tournament history, Ellsworth’s Corey DeWitt had another stellar night.
The senior guard scored 30 points. He hit 10 of his 19 field-goal attempts and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. He grabbed eight rebounds.
But it wasn’t enough as the No. 2 Eagles were outpaced by the transition game of No. 3 Camden Hills in Wednesday night’s EM Class B semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium.
Gordon Fischer and Jared Mitchell each scored 13 points to lead the Windjammers to a 64-58 victory and a berth in Saturday afternoon’s regional championship game.
Camden Hills, now 16-4, will face No. 5 Mattanawcook of Lincoln, which beat No. 8 MCI of Pittsfield in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
Mitchell said there wasn’t any fear of DeWitt, who poured in a tourney-record 52 points in Ellsworth’s quarterfinal against Hermon Friday, having another career night.
“It [the feeling] was more excited than anything else. I’ve been waiting three years for this,” he said. “I played on a state championship team as a sophomore and I didn’t play a lot, but it was crazy, just a rush. I hope to repeat that.”
Camden Hills guards Paul Campbell and Paul Draper had the job of defending DeWitt.
“We really wanted to limit his touches,” Camden Hills coach Jeff Hart said. “We had a lot of success with it some plays but he keeps moving. He’s so good at getting to the glass, too. … We limited his touches and certainly made him work for everything he got.”
The Windjammers were a step quicker and a bit bigger than the Eagles (16-4). Camden Hills forced three Ellsworth turnovers in the fourth quarter and the Windjammers were able to either score or spread the floor with those possessions.
“We struggled getting back on defense,” DeWitt said. “They executed and we didn’t at the end. That’s why they won.”
Mitchell did all of his scoring, including a 3-pointer after an Ellsworth turnover in the third quarter. The 6-foot-2 forward said the attention other players got from Ellsworth’s defense helped him get open.
“I think they were kind of worried about some of our other guys like Christian [Pieri], Paul [Campbell] and Paul Draper,” Mitchell said.
Ellsworth kept coming back. With 4:03 left in the game, DeWitt sank a 3-pointer to pull the Eagles to within two points. Thirty-five seconds later Fischer on a fast-break layup after turning the ball over a play earlier.
The Eagles turned over the ball again, which allowed Camden Hills to spread the floor.
But Ellsworth was still alive. The Windjammers were whistled for an offensive foul, after which another foul put Ellsworth’s Chris Archer at the line for two made free throws and a 60-58 Camden Hills lead.
The Windjammers got the ball back but Camden Hills center Nick Wootton missed two free throws with 1:31 left. Mitchell, however, grabbed the rebound of Wootton’s second miss, allowing Camden Hills to again run off some time.
“We work on [rebounds] day in, day out,” Mitchell said. “It’s just second nature, I guess.”
Dylan Smith hit two free throws to give Camden Hills a 62-58 lead, after which Wootton got the ball to Mitchell for the final basket of the game. DeWitt missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 9.9 seconds left and a DeWitt 3-pointer rolled in and out with less than five seconds left.
“I guess the thing I’m most proud of is it was a total team performance tonight,” Hart said. “I thought we got big plays from everybody.”
Archer scored 11 points and Dem Katsiaficas added nine more, but no other Ellsworth players scored more than three.
“We needed some guys to step up,” DeWitt said. “They were face-guarding me all game and it was hard to get open.”
WINDJAMMERS 64, EAGLES 58
Camden Hills (15-4) Ellsworth (16-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Campbell 4 9 2 2 10 Doe 0 1 0
Pieri 2 6 4 5 8 Katsficas 4 13 1 2 9
Fischer 6 10 0 1 13 Dewitt 10 19 10 30
Wootton 1 2 0 2 2 Kelley 1 4 3
Lammi 1 1 0 0 3 Stubbs 0 0 0
Mitchell 5 8 1 2 13 Murphy 1 7 3
Draper 3 11 0 0 7 Archer 4 8 11
Smith 1 5 6 6 8 Coombs 0 2 2
Morse 0 0 0 0
Totals 23 52 13 18 64 Totals 20 54 14 20 58
Camden Hills 13 36 47 64
Ellsworth 16 31 44 58
3-pt. goals – Camden Hills (5-10): Campbell 0-1, Pien 0-1, Fischer 1-2, Lamm 1-1, Mitchell 2-4, Draper 1-8, Smith 0-1; Ellsworth (4-18): Katsiaficas 0-2, Dewitt 2-6, Kelley 1-2, Murphy 0-4, Archer 1-4
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