Messalonskee’s Ryan Parent dribbles past Camden Hills’ Kiefer Healey during a boys basketball game Friday in Oakland. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

OAKLAND — A nailbiter, then a blowout, all in one half. Even without one of its best players, the Messalonskee boys basketball team can bury opponents in a flash.

Leading by just two points early in the second half Friday, the Eagles put their quickness and 3-point shooting on display. The result was a 76-51 victory over Camden Hills that showed just how dangerous Messalonskee can be when knocking down shots and playing defense to its potential.

“Our depth showed tonight,” said Messalonskee coach Sam Smith, whose team was missing 6-foot-5 big man Parker Reynolds (13.2 points, 10.9 rebounds per game) because of an ankle injury. “Anderson Arbour doesn’t usually start for us, but he got the start tonight, and he played really well.”

How did they do it?

• Messalonskee (13-2) made five 3-pointers during a third-quarter outburst that turned what had been a 29-27 lead into a 53-35 advantage entering the fourth.

• Arbour’s presence in the starting lineup more than made up for the absence of Reynolds, as he scored 17 points in the second half.

• Thanks to the defense of Drake Brunelle, Messalonskee limited Camden Hills standout Nolan Ames to tough shots and stifled the Windjammers (8-7) offensively.

“Nolan Ames is the best player in the conference, but Drake Brunelle is the best defender in the conference,” Smith said. “He’s physical, he’s long, and he’s smart, and he’s going to guard the other team’s best guard every single time. He changes everything for us.”

What does it mean?

• Messalonskee continued its undefeated January by winning its eighth consecutive game to distance itself from second-place Brewer in the Class A North standings.

• The Eagles avenged one of their only two losses this season, a 77-51 defeat to Camden Hills on Dec. 30. Messalonskee has not lost since that meeting.

Key moments

• Messalonskee’s defense flustered Camden Hills in the first quarter, forcing the Windjammers into eight turnovers to take a 15-4 lead into the second.

• After Messalonskee’s early lead, Camden Hills settled in and didn’t have a single turnover in the second quarter. Ames scored nine points to cut the Eagles’ lead to 29-25 at the break.

• Camden Hills was not yet buried, trailing by nine late in the third quarter until Ty Bernier hit back-to-back jump shots to put Messalonskee up by double digits for good.

They said it

“We really wanted to avenge that (earlier loss), not just because they beat us but because we didn’t play well. They’re a great team, and we want to be able to play good against great teams, so that was our goal tonight.” — Sam Smith

“The second quarter wasn’t as good — we slowed down — but we had a good halftime speech from Coach, and everyone had big energy. We had a hot hand (in Anderson), and we just kept feeding the hot hand, and it went in.” — Ryan Parent.

“I didn’t find out until last night (that I’d be starting), but it (was just a matter of) being quick out there, playing defense, rebounding and stuff like that. As a team, we did that really well.” — Anderson Arbour

Statistical leaders

Camden Hills: Nolan Ames (19 points, 12 rebounds), Thomas Leadbetter (11 points, all in fourth quarter)

Messalonskee: Anderson Arbour (21 points, six rebounds), Ty Bernier (17 points, six rebounds), Ryan Parent (14 points) 

Up next

Camden Hills: at Hampden Academy (11-2), 6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Messalonskee: at Mt. Blue (10-5), 7 p.m. Feb. 1