Second-half surge leads Camden Hills girls basketball past Cony

Cony’s Kya Douin maintains possession while Tallulah Marks of Camden Hills plays defense during their game Monday in Augusta. Camden Hills won 60-48. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

AUGUSTA — Even when it was fighting through a slow start Monday night, the Camden Hills girls basketball team was able to rely on its defense.

The Windjammers forced 27 turnovers and rode an offensive surge early in the second half to a 60-48 victory over Cony in a Class A/B matchup.

Thea Laukka led Camden Hills (8-2) with 18 points, and Leah Jones had 11 points and five rebounds. Tallulah Marks added 10 points.

“It was a good win, we really needed it,” said Laukka.

“Any win on the road is a good win,” added Camden Hills coach Samantha Bragg. “It’s always tough to come to someone else’s gym and have to play well, especially on a Monday.”

Cony (7-4) was led by Kya Douin, who had 16 points and five rebounds. Jaylynn Carver added 10 points and five rebounds.

How did they get there?

• Defense and depth. Cony battled with Camden Hills early, but the Windjammers forced 17 of Cony’s 27 turnovers in the first half, thanks to strong pressure defense.

“We definitely pride ourselves defensively, and I’m glad we forced that many turnovers because I wasn’t super happy with our defensive effort,” Bragg said. “I thought we gave up far too many layups early in the game, reaching too much in the backcourt. But we cleaned that up in the second half, which lead to better buckets for our offense.”

Camden Hills found breathing room offensively toward the end of the second quarter and entered halftime with a 28-20 lead.

The Windjammers carried their momentum into the third quarter, outscoring the Rams 19-10 to head into the fourth with a 47-30 lead.

“We talked a lot (at halftime) about communicating on defense,” Jones said. “In the first half there wasn’t a lot of communication happening for our team. So we talked about communication and just moving up, continue to put pressure (on defense), and that pressure carries over (to success) on offense.”

“With our press (defense), we really needed to step up,” added Laukka. “We came out a little flat tonight. But (in the second half), we stepped it up.”

• Cony, which carries just three upperclassmen, outscored Camden Hills 18-13 in the fourth quarter, but simply couldn’t cut deeply into the Windjammers’ lead. Cony scrapped for loose balls and, led by Gabby Vachon with seven, outrebounded Camden Hills.

“It was definitely a physical game,” said Cony coach Alex Bessey. “Where we’re not very deep, I was questioning how we would handle (Camden Hills’ depth). But we hung on until the last second. We’re kind of our own worst enemy. We had a lot of turnovers and a lot of off-balance shots that weren’t great for us.”

• Eight players scored for the Windjammers.

“We share the basketball (on offense),” Bragg said. “If it’s an open shot, we like that one and we’re not worried about who’s taking it most of the time. We have confidence in everyone knocking down what we need to knock down.”

Key moment

More like a key quarter, but the Windjammers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the second half than scoring 19 points in the third. Jones had seven points in the period and Luakka added five.

“We use (our depth) so we can get up, run and run press everybody for the whole game,” Jones said.”

What does it mean?

• With the win, Camden Hills is No. 4 in the Class A North standings. The Windjammers have a notable win over No. 5 Bangor (8-2). They’ve also been the only team to beat defending A North champion and current No. 1 Hampden Academy (9-1). Camden Hills fell 59-52 to Hampden in the regional final last season.

• Cony is now 7-4 in Class B North but has made significant progress under Bessey in her first year leading the program. The Rams picked up a 49-32 victory over Class C standout Maranacook on Jan. 2.

“Our consistency is what we’re working on the most, especially on the defensive end,” Bessey said. “We really harp on our defense starting our offense. If we’re not consistent with our defense, it hurts our offense.”