AUGUSTA — The Skowhegan girls basketball team won again. Senior Annie Cooke hit the 1,000-point plateau for her career. Three Indians recorded double figures in points.
But it wasn’t anywhere near as simple as that.
A game Camden Hills squad put a scare into top-seeded and previously unbeaten Skowhegan, frustrating the Indians with first-half foul trouble and uncertainty. In the end, Skowhegan emerged as its former self and ousted the No. 8 Windjammers in a walkaway, 46-30, in the Class A North quarterfinals Friday night at the Augusta Civic Center.
“Coach kept saying to us there’s always one bad game for every team at the ACC,” said Cooke, who had all 11 of her points in the second half. “So we’re glad we got it over with. Hopefully, it’s the only bad game we have left.”
Freshman Jaycie Christopher led Skowhegan (19-0) with 13 points, while Alyssa Everett added 12. The top seed is off to play No. 5 Messalonskee in the regional semifinals Tuesday.
Camden Hills (7-12) was a tough opponent early on.
The Windjammers put Skowhegan in foul trouble, forcing Cooke into her second foul of the night just 92 seconds after the opening tip. Mariah Dunbar followed Cooke to the bench in the first quarter, picking up her third foul of the night with 1:08 left in the opening period.
Christopher picked up some of the slack in the absence of Cooke and Dunbar, as did Everett — who had to be helped off the court with a leg injury late in the first. Everett returned, limping noticeably, in the second quarter.
“We don’t have that deep of a bench, so my team really needed me to step up,” Everett said.
While the Indians were struggling to make shots and not turn the ball over, something they did nine times in the first half, Camden Hills rode the hot hand of Kassie Krul. Krul led the Windjammers by scoring all seven of their first-quarter points and finished with nine of her team-high 13 in the opening 16 minutes.
But as difficult as it was for Skowhegan prior to halftime, Camden Hills couldn’t get a lead and keep it.
At the break, Skowhegan had a 20-17 advantage.
“We struggled a little bit with their physicality,” Skowhegan coach Mike LeBlanc said. “We had foul trouble, so we had to come out of what we like to do. That effected us on the offensive end, too.”
When the second half started, Skowhegan looked more like itself. Everett and Cooke were dominant in the paint, pouring in points and hauling down rebounds.
Cooke scored her 1,000th point with an offensive rebound and putback for her fifth points of the night and a 30-22 Skowhegan lead with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter.
“Everyone’s in the game and in the rhythm, and then you come off the bench and everyone’s already got the game going, it’s hard to just jump in right off the bat,” Cooke said. “They’re a very physical team, so that kind of threw us for a loop as we just weren’t ready for it.”
Camden Hills scored just four fourth-quarter points, as Skowhegan pulled away with 12 of the final 14 points in the contest.
“A win’s a win,” LeBlanc said. “I’m hoping that’s the worst we play the rest of the tournament.”
Travis Barrett — 621-5621
Twitter: @TBarrettGWC
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