HAMPDEN, Maine — The Camden Hills Regional High School Windjammers secured a hard-fought 65-55 upset win over the Hampden Academy Broncos Tuesday night.
Camden Hills avenged a two point loss to Hampden earlier in the season with a swarming performance on defense and on the boards, and cemented the victory by making some big shots in the second half. Camden Hills climbed to 9-7 with the win, dealing Hampden only their fourth loss of the season, now with a record of 11-4.
The Camden Hills offense ran through constant scoring threat Nolan Ames. And though the junior shooting guard notched 14 points, it was his role as facilitator that had the biggest impact on the game. After a close first half that had the Windjammers up 23-21, Ames got the second half off to a dazzling start with a pass between a defender’s legs in the paint, which teammate Teagan Lowe put home for two points.
Lowe led the Windjammers with 17 points to go with a relentless night of rebounding, and senior Matthias McPhail helped seal the victory with two consequential three point shots in the second half, including one particularly long make with about 3 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game.
Hampden senior guard Aidan Kochendoerfer provided a valiant effort with a game-high 23 points and junior guard Sawyer Worcester added an impressive 14 points in the second half, both helping to keep it a close contest by getting to the basket and repeatedly finishing in traffic. Despite the Broncos getting the game within four points in the last 30 seconds, the Windjammers made their free throws down the end and secured the upset win.
Later this week, Camden Hills will host 8-6 Cony on Friday. Hampden will welcome 13-2 Brewer, also on Friday, for a 6:30 p.m. rematch of the close contest that the Broncos won by 6 points.
