Eagles Upset Windjammers 71-62

The Ellsworth Eagles weren't supposed to be in the High School Tourney. As the #10 seed, they had to play a prelim game, a game against the defending Class B Eastern Maine Champions, the Medomak Valley Panthers, but Ellsworth beat them 47-44 on Tuesday, February 11th. Add to that, the fact that the Eagles hadn't played well at the Cross Insurance Center in their one visit earlier, when they lost to John Bapst 50-39 on January 28th. Oh, and one more thing, the Eagles had lost 4 times to Camden Hills in the Tourney at the Bangor Auditorium!

But this game was at the Cross Insurance Center, and the nothing to lose Ellsworth Eagles came out, and buoyed by the play of freshmen point guard Bryce Harmon, defeated the Camden Hills Windjammers, the #2 seed, and a KVAC team at that 71-62! Harmon played well beyond his one year of varsity basketball handled the ball against Camden Hills' press, and went 14-15 from the free throw line to finish with a game high 20 points.

Ellsworth jumped out to a 12-9 lead at the end of the 1st Quarter.as Harmon scored 5 points and Steven Mahon had 3 points. Camden Hills' Chandler Crans had 5 points including a 3-pointer.

In the 2nd Quarter Nick Bagley drained 3 3-pointers for Ellsworth, but Camden Hills took a one point lead into the half 24-23 Jayson Kuhn had 8 points in the quarter including a 3-pointer, and Terran Bailey had a 3 pointer while Crans added 4 points. Ellsworth was 6-9 from the free throw line in the first half, while Camden Hills was 9-18.

In the 3rd Quarter, Ellsworth received 3-pointers from Alex Braley, Griffin Nightingale and Mitchell Domagala, while Harmon added 5 more points. Camden Hills was able to get the ball into Connor Graffam who scored 6 points, and Crans added 5 points including a 3-pointer, as Camden Hills increased their lead to 3 points after the r3rd Quarter 45-42.

In the 4th Quarter, Ellsworth outscored Camden Hills 29-17, as the Eagles went 15-19 from the free throw line! Harmon added 10 more points, 8-8 from the free throw line. Bagley scored 8 points including a 3-pointer and Nightingale added 5 points. Terran Bailey had a 3 pointer for Camden Hills and Kuhn added another 3-pointer  and John Hall added 5 points for the Windjammers.

Ellsworth was led by Bryce Harmon with 20 points, while Nick Bagley had 19. Ellsworth was 24-33 from the free throw line. Camden Hills was led by Chandler Crans with 16 points while Jayson Kuhn had 13. They were 14-24 from the free throw line.

With the victory, Ellsworth will now play the #6 seed Old Town, Wednesday February 19th at 2:05 PM in a game that will be broadcast on WDEA AM 1370 and WDEA Internet Radio in the first semifinal of the day. Old Town upset MDI 57-44 earlier on Friday. Ellsworth and Old Town split during the regular season, with Ellsworth defeating Old Town in Old Town on December 17th 63-56 and losing at home 52-49 on January 15th.

Box Score

Ellsworth

Camden Hills