By Mike Corrado, Special to the BDN
In what was a defensive slugfest, the fifth-seeded Camden-Hills Windjammers knocked off No. 4 Nokomis 56-46 in their Class A North quarterfinal matchup Saturday night.
The Windjammers advanced to take on the winner of Hampden Academy vs. Skowhegan at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21 at the Augusta Civic Center.
Senior guard Will Duke was the star for coach Joel Gabriele’s Windjammers, scoring 16 points in the first half alone, and tacking on an additional 10 in the final two quarters.
While Camden only put up three points in the first quarter to Nokomis’ eight, the hot hands of Duke and sophomore guards Nolan Ames and Evan Kimble ensured the Windjammers could advance to the semifinals of the tournament when the final buzzer sounded.
“We just had to stay calm. I kept telling the guys ‘our shots are gonna fall, we’ve been scoring all season long’, so once we got over that hump I knew we’d be fine.”, Gabriele said.
Just two minutes into the second quarter those shots started falling. Duke’s seven points brought his team within one, before a Kimble three-pointer put the Windjammers in the lead.
Duke only got hotter, nailing a three and converting on the following two offensive possessions, handing Camden a 23-21 lead going into the half.
Gabriele complimented his leader. “He’s our go-to guy. Anytime we need a play from Will he’ll be there. He’s put the hard yards in in the gym, and now he’s leading his team to victory.”
For Nokomis, junior forward Dawson Townsend’s 21 points led the way.
Ames and Kimble added to Camden’s second-half surge, with Ames scoring 10 of his 12 in the final two quarters, while also helping swing momentum in his side’s favor after a tough and-one conversion just before the end of the third quarter. Kimble sank all his free throws when called upon late in the game, and was perfect from beyond the arc on his only three of the night.
“This is what we work for all season, to win these types of games,” Camden Gabriele concluded. “We had to take care of business against a really well-drilled, well-coached Nokomis team, and I’m just so hyped for these guys to get this feeling and get this win under their belt.”