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Portland High showed it could score with the best. Then the Bulldogs showed what they do best: Clamp down on defense and win.
Portland beat Camden Hills 76-60 on Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena to win the Class A boys basketball championship and give coach Joe Russo his sixth state title in a 36-year career with the program.
The Bulldogs copleted an improbable run from being the sixth seed in the South regional to state champions. Portland finished with a 17-6 record, winning five straight playoff games, including a preliminary-round game.
Camden Hills, undefeated against Class A North opponents, finished 20-2.
“This one is unlike any other year I’ve had in my (career),” Russo said. “This was special because the kids knew that we could do it if they could just stay with it and keep working hard. And this is the product.”
Senior guard Loic Ramazani said the regular-season losses hurt because, “In our heads, we think we’re No. 1, right? Then to take a long route like that and for us to peak right at the end of the season, who could ask for anything better.”
Camden Hills senior star Nolan Ames (30 points) showed in the first half why he’s expected to be named Mr. Maine Basketball. He scored 20 points in an impressive array of ways. But in the second half, Portland went on a 24-8 run over the first nine minutes to extend a 39-36 halftime lead to 63-44. Despite a few retaliatory flurries, Ames and the Windjammers could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
“He’s as quality of a player that I’ve coached against in all the years I’ve been here,” Russo said of Ames, comparing him to Ralph Mims, who scored 46 points for Brunswick in the 2004 championship game. Portland won that game, too.
“I said to the team. Five of us can win. That’s what we talked about at halftime,” Russo said.
Portland had big-time contributors all over the court, led by its seniors. Cordell Jones came out hot with a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers and finished strong with 10 points in the fourth quarter for a team-high 20, making eight of his 10 shots, with three 3-pointers, three steals, three assists and a presence as the go-to guy. Jones is going to play football at the University of Maine. He was a two-time Varsity Maine All-State football player.
Jones showed he’s also a powerful force on the basketball court, with a unique awareness of knowing what his team needs and when they need it.
“I felt like I had to take over this game for us to win this game,” Jones said. “No one really knows me that well when it comes to basketball. Everyone knows me as a football player. But I know I’m the best athlete in the state and I know I can get it done at any point.”
Lucas LeGage knocked down three 3s en route to 19 points. Like Jones, his shot was spot-on. LeGage was 7 of 11 from the floor.
“We have such team chemistry and we were as tight as we ever were tonight,” LeGage said. “It was so fun. It was great. It was one of the best games I’ve ever played. It was so fun. The atmosphere was so great and I just feel that pushes us up even more.”
Loic Ramazani, saddled with two quick fouls that put him on the bench for much of the first half, scored 11 points and took on Ames in the third quarter, limiting his touches and keeping him off the scoresheet until Portland had pushed its lead to 13.
“We knew we could make a run on defense,” said Ramazani. “With me being a primary defender and watching (Ames) go on runs like that, it just made me frustrated.”
Benilson Lumani, the 6-foot-7 center, helped with four blocks — two in the third quarter — and 12 rebounds.
Maddox Meas, a junior, scored eight points. His biggest contribution was three steals in the first minute of the fourth quarter to set up buckets by Ramazani, Jones and LeGage that pushed the lead to 63-44. The first came on an inbounds pass right after a Jones inside basket.
“I was reading his eyes. He had to inbound. I knew he didn’t have much time,” Meas said. “I just anticipated it, made the steal and got the pass to my teammate.”
Ephraim Luseko, a freshman, was a strong finisher with 12 points, all via his work in the paint.
Camden Hills was red-hot in the second quarter, scoring 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, with Tucker Whitley scoring seven of his 13 points and Ames netting 12. But the Windjammers weren’t getting many stops, as Portland scored 20 points, including the last seven — four from Luseko and a 3-pointer by LeGage off a Jones assist.
For the game, Portland was 32 of 50 from the field, while Camden Hills made 24 of 51 shots. Both teams played at a high level, particularly in the first half.
“We wanted to run and gun. We got to that when we made our run in the second quarter,” said Camden Hills coach Joel Gabriele. “They shot the lights out.”
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