They started with a bang and finished with a flourish.

The top-seeded Waynflete boys left no doubt Saturday afternoon in the Class C lacrosse state championship game with a 17-5 victory over No. 2 Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Sam Whipple scored four of his five goals in the first half as the Flyers (14-1) built a 9-0 lead and were never seriously threatened on the way to their second state title in three years.

“We love playing our hard schedule and they don’t have that same luxury,” Waynflete senior defender Ben Adey said of the previously unbeaten Raiders (13-1). “We knew if we came out hard and got some quick goals, they haven’t faced that adversity before.”

It was Adey, a defender, who put the icing on the cake in the final minute, scoring the first goal of his career by finishing off a textbook give-and-go with classmate Ned Lane. The victory also marked the ninth team title of Adey’s illustrious athletic career. Since his freshman winter, his Alpine skiing (three), tennis (three), soccer (two) and lacrosse (one) seasons each ended with a championship.

“I saw him cutting to the crease,” Lane said, “and I wanted him to get a goal.”

Adey was one of nine Flyers to score. Lane had three goals, Harry Millspaugh and Seth Cloutier two apiece and Owen Anderson, Nils Burton-Johanson, Roan Hopkins, Nico Kirby each had one.

“We don’t have pressure on just one person,” Whipple said. “We can share the ball and rely on our teammates. Everybody can put it in the back of the net.”

Millspaugh misfired a few times early, then spent much of the rest of the game setting up teammates. He finished with five assists. He said he recently restrung the net of his stick and understood within a few minutes that he would be more effective as a passer than a shooter.

“Guys were getting open and I found them, and they were getting goals,” he said, “so I figured why not keep going to them.”

Defensively, Adey and sophomore Liam Anderson shadowed Oak Hill’s most dangerous attackers, Travis Caron and Tiger Hopkins. Mike Veroneau, Jasper Curtis and goalie Alex Vest (11 saves) took care of the rest.

Caron and Riley Worth scored for Oak Hill to open the third quarter and cut the margin to 9-3, but that marked the only time the Raiders, making their first appearance in a state title game, put together consecutive goals.

“We’re not used to playing in a big game,” Oak Hill Coach Joey Hinkley said. “Lot of people here. Big city. And it’s tough when you don’t get to see teams like this during the regular season.”

The only blemish for Waynflete this spring came against Class A South runner-up Berwick Academy. On Saturday, Whipple struck twice in the first four minutes, sandwiched around a Millspaugh feed to Hopkins for a quick 3-0 lead.

“You’re holding your breath, just hoping you can get on the board first and have that little release,” Waynflete Coach Andrew Leach said. “And as soon as we did, it just kept going from there.”