AUGUSTA — If you’re looking for something artistic, well, there are plenty of art galleries in the area. If you’re looking for a grind-it-out, take-no-prisoners effort, then Saturday’s Cony-Camden Hills game might be more to your liking.
Kam Douin scored 17 points and Cony’s in-your-face defense did the rest in a 63-52 win in a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal on Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Fourth-seeded Cony (13-6) will face top-seeded Nokomis in the semifinals on Wednesday night at the Civic Center. No. 5 Camden Hills ended its season 9-8.
The game was not always the prettiest, with enough whistles and colliding bodies to fill the Civic Center as Cony’s full-court press and rapid passing gave Camden Hills little time to react.
“I was really proud of the defensive effort,” Cony coach T.J. Maines said. “We did a really good job rebounding the ball, and that’s been a real issue for us all year, and tonight we were really tough.”
Up 26-22 at halftime, Cony’s press wore out Camden Hills in the third. The Rams’ Brayden Barbeau opened the half with a layup off a steal. With 3:20 left in the period, teammate Ashton Dennett turned a steal into a lay-in, and seconds later, pesky Douin swiped the ball from an unsuspecting Windjammer and delivered it to Dominick Napolitano (eight points) to give Cony a 41-29 advantage.
“I thought Ashton Dennett gave us some great minutes in the third quarter,” Maines said. “I was really pleased with the steal and the back-tip layup, and two big rebounds. He’s a senior who hasn’t probably played as much as he’d like, so I was really happy for him.”
The game appeared to be over with Cony up 59-44 and 1:29 remaining before Camden Hills rolled off eight straight points to close the deficit to 59-52 with 33 seconds left. But a missed 3-pointer attempt and four straight Cony free throws sealed the deal. The Rams finished 19-for-31 from the line, a number they said needs improvement if they want to extend their season.
Camden Hills’ Ryan Clifford (30) pulls the ball from the hands of Cony senior Alex Fournier during a Class A North quarterfinal game Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“It was physical,” Douin said, “but we definitely need to play better (on the line), myself included, for sure. We made enough shots at the end to win, but I think our defense was the real reason we won, with our offense following the press.”
The Rams took a 13-6 lead after one quarter before the Windjammers muscled into a 20-20 tie on a bucket by Westen DeWaard (team-high 16 points) with 1:20 left in the half. Three-pointers by Cony’s Brady Hopkins (11 points) and Douin, sandwiched around a pair of free throws by DeWaard, gave the Rams a 26-22 halftime advantage.
“We were very prepared and had a good defensive game plan, but we didn’t take care of the ball as well as we could have, and you have to possess it well,” Camden Hills coach Jon Moro said. “They capitalized on turnovers, for sure. But at the same time, we had a lot of balls that just didn’t roll in, some layups. We were hoping it would be a closer game with a different story, but I’m certainly proud of the way the guys fought and their effort.”
Parker Sergent and Luke Briggs each added eight points for Cony, which won the only regular-season matchup between the teams, 77-62, on Jan. 6.
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