BANGOR — Keegan Pieri of Camden Hills put on a 3-point shooting clinic Saturday night in the first half of the Eastern Class B boys’ basketball championship game at the Bangor Auditorium.

Pieri, a 6-foot-6 guard, sank his first five 3-pointers to set the tone as the top-ranked Windjammers captured their third consecutive regional title by rolling to a 73-55 victory against previously undefeated Ellsworth.

Camden Hills (21-0) will try to win its second Class B state championsip in three seasons when it meets Cape Elizabeth (17-4) at 8 p.m. Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

“Ellsworth packed it in,” said Pieri, who scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half. “They played really tough defense. What has been our bread and butter all year is getting the ball inside, so we had to definitely be threats from the outside, and I guess we were more than that tonight.”

The Windjammers hit 10 3-point shots in the first half to race into a 45-32 lead.

Pieri set the tone in the first quarter by hitting four 3-point attempts to help Camden Hills move into a 26-17 lead.

“This is my last game in the Bangor Auditorium, my last game in the white jersey, so I was just going to give it everything I’ve got,” Pieri said. “Coach told me before the game, ‘just let it go, you’re going to have a good game,’ so I guess he knew something.”

“I knew we hadn’t played a great game yet, and I knew Keegan is a clutch player,” Camden Hills Coach Jeff Hart said. “He was due for a big game.”

The second-seeded Eagles (20-1) did a good job keeping the ball from Tyler McFarland, Camden Hills’ 6-6 senior center. But it came at a price.

“They decided they were going to double (McFarland) down low and they left (Pieri) open too many times,” Hart said.

In the first half, Nathan Catell hit two 3-pointers for the Windjammers, and Joel Gabriele, Kyle Ohelnik and Adam Carlsen added one 3-pointer apiece.

Both teams shot extremely well during the fast-paced first half.

Camden Hills sank 17 of 28 shots and the Eagles made 11 of 23.

But the Windjammers managed to make a few more defensive stops.

After falling behind 58-37 early in the third quarter, Ellsworth made a run at the Windjammers. Jordan Carter, who scored eight of his 10 points in the quarter, helped fuel a 9-0 run as the Eagles moved within 58-46 with 40 seconds remaining, but they got no closer.

McFarland, who was Camden Hills’ leading scorer in the regular season, wound up with 12 points.

“(McFarland) was feeling a little bit under the weather so I told him to just get to the glass and try to get put-backs,” Hart said.

Gabriele and Carlsen each scored 11 points.

Andrew Austin led the Eagles with 14 points. 

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com