AUGUSTA — For a program that prided itself on greatness when Joel Gabriele played here, it had been a while since Camden Hills boys basketball had won on this stage.

Not since Gabriele, the Windjammers’ first-year head coach, himself walked off the court a state champion in 2011 had the Windjammers been victorious in the tournament game. After Saturday, though, that drought is over — and a victory years in the making has been achieved.

Camden Hills claimed its first tournament win since 2011 and first-ever in Class A with a 56-46 win over Nokomis in Saturday’s regional quarterfinals. The Windjammers broke open a tight game in the second half to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals against either Hampden Academy or Skowhegan.

“It’s been a while,” said Camden Hills senior guard Will Duke, who led all scorers with 28 points. “We really wanted this. It’s been a while since we won a playoff game, and we’ve never won one in Class A, so it feels amazing. I love my guys, and today, we came here and got it done.”

Camden Hills senior guard Will Duke shoots under defensive pressure from Nokomis’ Owen Sides (2) and Seth Bowden (20) during a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The game began as an offensive struggle with No. 5 Camden Hills (11-8) leading just 3-2 after the first five minutes on a Duke 3-pointer. Nokomis then took the lead with just under three minutes on a Connor Sides layup before two baskets from Dawson Townsend gave the Warriors an 8-3 lead to close out the period.

The second quarter, though, belonged to Duke, who began the period with back-to-back baskets before an Evan Kimble 3-pointer gave No. 4 Camden Hills (11-8) a 10-8 lead. With Nokomis up 12-10, Duke then scored seven straight points before his floater with 20 seconds left in the half put the Windjammers up 23-21.

“I felt like a weird start was bound to happen,” Gabriele said. “Coming up to a new arena and not being in our home gym, I felt like our shots weren’t going to fall, and that’s what happened. I just kept telling the guys, ‘We’ve been scoring all season; our shots are going to fall,’” and once we got over that hump, we were fine.”

Miles Spear then hit a 3 for Camden Hills to begin the third quarter before layups from Connor and Owen Sides and an Alex Grant jumper put Nokomis up 27-26. That would be the last of the scoring for the Warriors in the third, though, as Camden ended the period on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Nolan Ames and-one.

“That was a fantastic play; that changed the game,” Gabriele said of Ames’ layup and foul shot with 18 seconds left in the third. “You get the and-one on a fastbreak, hit the foul shot and get the crowd excited. That’s a sophomore out there making those plays for us.” 

Although Camden Hills pushed the lead to 12 twice early in the fourth quarter, Nokomis hung around as it cut the deficit to seven on both occasions. Yet the Windjammers were consistent from the free-throw line to secure the victory with Duke going 6 of 6 down the stretch and Kimble also making a pair.

“He’s bigger than all of our guards, and we don’t really have someone with the same size that’s also as quick as he is,” Nokomis head coach Josh Grant said of Duke. “He’s really, really crafty, he can shoot it from the outside, he can get to the rim, and he’s a great foul shooter, which you saw at the end.”

In addition to Duke’s 28 points, Ames added 11 for Camden Hills, and Hunter Bell led all players with 12 rebounds. Townsend had 17 points and nine rebounds for Nokomis, which also got 12 points and eight boards from Connor Sides in the loss. The Warriors’ had 13 turnovers to the Windjammers’ 11.

Foul trouble also proved fatal for Nokomis. Townsend picked up his third foul late in the first half and had to sit for the final four minutes of the third quarter after picking up his fourth. That four-minute stretch saw Camden Hills build a lead it would never relinquish to book a semifinal berth.

“We got in a bit of foul trouble, and we’re not super deep to begin with, so that stretch in the third quarter made the difference in the game,” Grant said. “In the end, it just came down to us just not stringing together multiple, but a lot of that is a credit to them. They played good defense, and they’re tough to guard.”

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