Camden Hills’ Maddison Cronkite tries to dribble past Lawrence’s Maddie Provost during a Class A North semifinal game Wednesday in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — Even in a 14-point loss to Lawrence a month ago, the Camden Hills girls basketball team knew it could challenge the unbeaten Bulldogs.

The Windjammers knew they could match Lawrence on the boards, and most importantly, they knew they could deliver a result that would send shockwaves around the state.

If that seemed crazy before the two teams met again Wednesday, it sure doesn’t now.

Camden Hills produced the biggest stunner of the 2025 tournament thus far with a 64-56 win over Lawrence in the Class A North semifinals. The win sends the Windjammers to Friday’s regional final against Hampden Academy, which defeated Cony earlier in the day.

“When we went up there, we had a glimpse of, ‘Hey, these guys are beatable, and we’re there with them,’” said Camden Hills coach Samantha Bragg. “We weren’t (scared of them) because you can’t be scared up here; if you lose, you don’t get to play again. We laid it all on the table.”

How Camden Hills did it

• The No. 4 Windjammers (14-6) did the seemingly impossible as they outrebounded Lawrence, 36-31. Rose Tohanczyn and Thea Laukka got 10 and eight rebounds for Camden Hills to neutralize the Bulldogs’ Lilly Gray and Nadia Morrison (eight apiece).

“One thing we work on in practice and that our coaches says over and over again is that, offensively and defensively, we’ve got to crash the boards,” said Camden’s Leah Jones. “We knew they have two tall girls who are very good at rebounding, so as a team, we all had to go to the glass.”

• Camden Hills executed its offense with efficiency to open each half, scoring 16 points in the first quarter and 18 in the third. Then in the fourth, the Windjammers sealed the game with clutch free-throw shooting, as they made 16 from the line.

• Led by an outstanding effort off the bench from Rita Haslam, Camden Hills used a mix of man-to-man, 1-2-1-1 zone press and box-and-run defenses to force Lawrence into 17 turnovers, as well as tough shots. Even when the Bulldogs did get good looks, they struggled to convert them.

What it means

• Lawrence, which had won 18 of its 19 games by double digits, sees its quest for a seventh Gold Ball end in stunning fashion against a team it defeated 68-54 back on Jan. 22.

• Camden Hills advances to meet Hampden Academy in a regional title game nobody expected, after wins over the two teams that had topped Class A North all season long.

They said it

“We kept the mentality that it’s either win here or go home, and we didn’t want to go home. They had so much more to lose than we did; it was expected for them to win and for us not to win. There was no pressure on us, so we just had to play like we knew how to play.” — Leah Jones

“Girls like (Maddie Provost) are going to get their points, and you’re not going to stop them from scoring, but we can score, too; we just spread the wealth a little differently. … We talked yesterday about how we belong here, and we wanted to make them play with us, not the other way around.” — Samantha Bragg

“You have to give Camden Hills a lot of credit. They’re athletic, they really got after every loose ball and made shots, and we missed shots. When you’re 19-0 and have expectations, sometimes the pressure gets to you a little bit, and the shots don’t fall.” — Lawrence coach Greg Chesley

Stat leaders

• Camden Hills: Leah Jones (18 points), Rose Tohanczyk (16 points, 10 rebounds), Thea Laukka (16 points, eight rebounds)

• Lawrence: Maddie Provost (28 points), Lilly Gray (10 points, eight rebounds)