AUGUSTA — Sure, it’s easy to write off fiery halftime speeches as corny or cliched. But don’t tell that to the Camden Hills boys basketball team.
Down by 11 at halftime, the fifth-seeded — and suddenly motivated — Windjammers went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter, then held on for a 62-55 win over No. 4 Cony in a Class A North quarterfinal Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Camden Hills junior forward Nolan Ames scored 20 points, including nine straight as part of his team’s big run. His 3-pointer with 2:01 left in the third capped the rally and gave Camden Hills a 38-35 lead.
Ames, who also pulled down 10 rebounds, passed the praise onto his teammates.
“My teammates were helping me out by setting up screens,” Ames said. “I’m not going to get open if they don’t set up any screens, and I don’t get to score that way.”
With Camden Hills down 33-22 at the half after a 25-2 Cony run, a little speech from coach Joel Gabriele didn’t hurt, either. OK, make that a big speech.
“To be honest, that second quarter was one of the worst we’ve ever played, and I challenged the guys at halftime,” Gabriele said. “I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got 16 minutes left. Are they going to be the last 16 minutes of the season? I think not.’ And we went out there and made sure that wasn’t the case.”
Camden Hills (10-9) will face No. 1 Messalonskee in the semifinals Wednesday night at the Civic Center. Cony ended its season 10-9.
How Camden Hills did it
Down 35-24 early in the third, Camden Hills opened its run with a Tucker Whitely 3-pointer and a Thomas Leadbetter basket. From there, it was all Ames, who scored the next nine points, including a 3-pointer and back-to-back baskets off his own rebounds.
The Windjammers outrebounded the Rams 19-14 in the second half, eight from the long arms of Ames. Cony was held to six field goals after halftime.
“At times, we had some moments where we were careless with the basketball, had some turnovers, and just didn’t make shots down the stretch,” Cony coach Isaiah Brathwaite said.
The game was back-and-forth after the big rally. Cony led 53-52 in the fourth before a Teagan Lowe basket with 2:47 left started a 9-0 run for the Windjammers.
The big ‘mo’
The Rams seemed to have all the momentum going into halftime, as they outscored the Windjammers 25-2 over the first and second quarters. Cony drained five 3-pointers, including two from Ben Hanke. Matt Boston, Parker Morin and Keenan Clark also sank 3s during the rally. Clark grabbed three rebounds and added a block.
Key play
Gabriele and Ames credited spark-plug guard Hollis Schwalm with making a display of hustle at the start of the third quarter. Shortly thereafter, Camden Hills started its big run.
“Schwalm was guarding the ball handler, deflected the ball, dove on the floor, and that set the tone for us the rest of the way,” Gabriele said.
Ironically, Schwalm sat out most of the third quarter after he was called for his fourth foul.
Statistical leaders
Cony: Jordan Benedict (13 points), Parker Morin (11 points), Keenan Clark (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Camden Hills: Nolan Ames (20 points, 10 rebounds), Tucker Whitley (11 points), Teagan Lowe (10 points).
Two out of three
Camden Hills earned the rubber match between the teams. The Windjammers won 91-79 on Dec. 28, and the Rams prevailed 70-68 on Jan. 31.
They said it
“I think it was all down to our energy. From our water boy, Walter, to Hollis diving on loose balls to start the half, it really kicked us off with energy. That’s how we won that game.” — Nolan Ames
“It was all energy, effort and passion for defense (in the second half).” — Joel Gabriele
“I thought it was a good season overall. We stared off a little rocky, but we won 10 of our last 15 games. We did our best to turn it around and end up as 4-seed.” — Isaiah Brathwaite
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