Tuesday night’s game between the Brewer and Camden Hills boys basketball teams was much closer than the final score.
Camden needed a dominant fourth quarter from star senior Nolan Ames, who dropped 19 points for the Windjammers in that final period, to come away with the 73-63 win over the Witches.
“I’ve got to take over at the end of a game,” Ames said. “I trust all my teammates to do whatever they want, but they trust me and want the ball in my hands. So when they give it to me, I’m gonna go and do something with it.”
Camden remained a perfect 10-0 on the season with the victory, and Brewer fell to 2-8.
Ames finished with 34 on the night in a matchup between two of the best players in Maine’s North region, with Ames and Brewer Sophomore Oli Higgins among high school boys basketball’s most electric players in the Pine Tree State.
“He definitely hit an extra gear. I think it’s because we started to really get out in transition and run,” Camden Hills coach Joel Gabriele said after the win. “And when we’re running and lanes are open, Nolan’s going to show everybody his athleticism.”
But, Gabriele added, it was his whole team working together in the third and fourth quarters that created those opportunities.
Gabriele said the Brewer High School gym has always been a tough place to play.
“They feed off the energy in here. It’s loud. And they played a heck of a game tonight,” Gabriele said about the home team.
Brewer jumped out to a 14-7 lead in front of its home fans and led 17-14 after one quarter thanks to a three-pointer from Jack Robertson.
Ames gave Camden Hills a lead later in the second quarter with a leaner in the lane, and Caleb Campbell responded for Brewer to make it 29-29.
Camden led 31-30 at the half, which is when Higgins really started to get going offensively for Brewer. The sophomore phenom scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, and made his imposing presence felt on both ends of the court — perhaps most notably with a monster block down low on defense.
“We know we can compete with anyone, and that’s a good team. But we have a long way to go,” Higgins said after the game.
The teams traded buckets throughout the raucous third quarter, and entered the fourth tied at 45.
That’s when Ames really came alive for the Windjammers.
The senior guard started the final period by slashing to the hoop to put Camden Hills up 47-45. Then he delivered the play of the game by stealing the ball and taking it coast-to-coast for a momentum-building dunk that elated the visiting fans and gave Camden Hills a six-point lead that they would eventually stretch to 13.
“I can’t even explain it,” Ames said about how it feels to throw down a big dunk like that. “It’s probably one of the best feelings to be able to snap that rim and then just get hyped, and all your boys behind you getting hyped. It’s a great feeling.”
Ames added a second dunk later in the quarter, and nearly provided a third for exclamation in the final seconds that just missed.
“We built our own energy — manufactured our own energy,” Ames said about the way Camden Hills finished the game. “We did that, we just picked each other up, and we fought hard until the end.”
And he credited the young Brewer squad for their performance.
“We knew they were going to give us a good shot. Everyone’s going to want to give us their best game,” Ames said. “They’re a young team, but they’re fierce — scrappy.”