ROCKPORT, Maine — It was 40-29 midway through the fourth quarter, and it looked like the Camden Hills girls basketball team’s eight-game win streak was going to stretch to nine.
But nobody told that to Lacy Massengale of Medomak Valley.
The Panthers’ sophomore scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning free throws with 26.8 seconds remaining as the visitors from Waldoboro ended the contest on a 21-7 run to earn a 51-47 KVAC Class B victory Friday night.
Coach Randy Hooper’s club, which came in ranked sixth in Eastern Maine Class B, improves to 12-4 while fifth-ranked Camden Hills is also 12-4.
Medomak won the first meeting between the two clubs on Dec. 11 in Waldoboro.
After the ’Jammers took a 35-29 lead into the final quarter, Jackay Richards canned a 3-pointer from the right corner on Camden’s initial possession of the period, and she gave her team its biggest lead of the night at 40-29 with a driving layup along the baseline on the subsequent possession.
But the inevitable Panther run was coming, and Medomak responded with a 10-2 spurt to tie the game, seven of those points coming from Massengale.
The game-turning moment, however, came on a followup basket by Ericka Christensen off a missed free throw, and she turned it into a 3-point play after struggling offensively throughout the night.
“That was huge,” Hooper said. “It kind of bounced to her, I didn’t think she made a great spin move or anything, it just kind of bounced to her.”
That trimmed the Camden Hills’ lead to 42-40 with 3:9 left. After Alanna Vose hit a pair of free throws to tie it on Medomak’s next possession, the teams traded baskets the next couple of trips, with Camden’s Maci Heal hitting a perimeter shot from the right wing to give her team a 47-44 lead with 1:42 left.
Vose then hit a runner in the lane to bring her team within one, and Messengale was fouled up top with 26 seconds left, and her free throws gave the Panthers their first lead since the first quarter.
“I was very confident, that positive attitude just motivated me even more,” Messengale said.
Camden’s Maddie Smeaton missed a shot on the subsequent possession, and Messengale hit two more foul shots after being fouled intentionally on a drive to the hoop.
Even though they were down by 11 with five minutes to go on the road, the Panthers weren’t ready to throw in the towel. They rose up on the defensive end, switching from a zone to a full-court man trap which harassed the Windjammers into turnovers and limited open looks in the paint for Smeaton or Jordan Knowlton.
“We were telling each other our little motto, clear eyes, full hearts can’t lose, and we came out and stepped it up with our hearts and we had it from there,” said Messengale.
Hooper wasn’t exactly feeling overconfident on the sidelines, but that started to change as his team drew closer late.
“When we’re down 11 with 5:52 to go and I called timeout, I gave them the old coach’s speak of one trip at a time we can get back in this, but I wasn’t feeling to snappy about it,” he said. “But then we got a stop and we got a score and momentum started to build.”
Medomak’s pressure frustrated coach Jay Carlsen’s club.
“Our inability to execute allowed them to get the ball back,” Carlsen said. “We had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter, too many unforced turnovers.”
Medomak was also 16-for-21 from the free-throw line on the night — Messengale was 7-of-7 and Lindsay Ranquist, who scored 10 points, 4-of-7 — while the Panthers were 12-of-14 as a unit in the fourth quarter.
“We fouled too many times on that end,” Carlsen said. “With 4 minutes, 3 minutes to go the clock’s not running and they’re scoring, making free throws.”
Christensen finished with nine points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots while Vose had five steals for Medomak.
The first half was a showcase of defense, as both teams stymied the others’ offensive attack.
Camden Hills, however, went on the offensive early in the second quarter after leading 9-7 after one, starting the period on an 11-5 run, capped by Knowlton’s one-handed scoop in the lane with 52 seconds left.
But the Panthers would respond, scoring the final five points of the half, on a 3-pointer by Danielle Dyer from the right corner and a followup basket by Vose.
Knowlton’s 12 points and seven rebounds led the Windjammers.
