— By

Morning Sentinel

BANGOR — As Elizabeth Ferry of Winslow walked to the locker room Friday night following a 39-36 victory against Camden Hills, she spoke for everybody associated with the Black Raiders.

”That was way too close,” Ferry said.

Winslow led the Eastern Class B quarterfinal by 20 points at halftime, but mistakes by the Black Raiders and Camden Hills’ tenacity turned a rout into a close game.

But third-seeded Winslow (17-2) will be moving on to Wednesday’s semifinals, and sixth-ranked Camden Hills closed its season at 14-5.

”The first half, we played like a veteran group. The second half, we showed our youth. We panicked a little bit. They put a little extra pressure on (us),” Winslow Coach Tom Nadeau said.

The Black Raiders cruised to a 12-1 lead and had a 28-8 advantage at halftime.

Camden Hills turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, and the Winslow defense did a nice job containing the Windjammers’ inside threat, Jordan Knowlton.

But in the second half, everything changed.

Eighteen of Winslow’s 26 turnovers came in the second half, and had it not been for Kaylee Constable’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Black Raiders would have been shut out in the quarter.

”We talked about it at halftime. They’re going to pick it up. We need to weather the storm,” said Nadeau, whose team still led 31-18 going into the fourth quarter.

”And we weathered the storm.”

Ferry picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter, and Megan Pelletier got her fourth early in the fourth.

With Winslow’s top two scorers in foul trouble, the Windjammers cut the lead to seven, but Winslow regrouped and pushed its lead back to 39-28 with 1:20 to play.

Maddie Smeaton (11 points) hit consecutive baskets for Camden Hills, then Gabrielle Duke made a pair of shots, and suddenly the Windjammers were down by three with eight seconds to play.

But despite missing three free throws in the final 12 seconds, Winslow held on.

”Foul trouble hurt us a little, too. We made some silly fouls, some silly decisions,” Nadeau said.

”Once again, that’s just part of being young. Those kids grew up a little tonight.”

Pelletier led Winslow with 14 points, while Ferry chipped in with 10.

Knowlton had 11 points and seven rebounds for Camden Hills.

Copy the Story Link