AUGUSTA — With seconds left and a wide-open shot at his fingertips, Brewer senior Cam Hughes thought the basket never looked so small.

“It looked tiny. I felt like I had to place it so perfectly. I didn’t know what was going on. I put it right up there,” Hughes said.

Hughes made the bucket, just his second of the game, and with it the biggest shot in Brewer boys’ basketball history. Hughes’ layup with four seconds left gave Brewer its first lead since early in the third quarter, and the Witches won the Class A boys’ basketball state championship with a 42-41 victory over Falmouth on Friday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

It’s the first state title for Brewer, which finishes the season 21-1. Falmouth closes the season at 17-5.

“I’ve dreamed about this since first grade,” Hughes said, wearing the net that his winning shot went through. “I told everyone I wasn’t going to cry, then I started sobbing. The emotions were just pouring.”

Down 41-38 in the final minute, Brewer cut the deficit to a point on Ryder Goodwin’s layup with 23 seconds left. With 16 seconds to play, Falmouth’s Paul Dilworth missed a pair of free throws. As Brewer passed the ball around the perimeter looking for a good shot while the seconds ticked away, Brock Flagg found Hughes cutting to the basket for the go-ahead points.

“I wish I could say I designed that one up, but it wasn’t. It was just our kids playing and finding the open man. Cam made a nice bucket there,” said Brewer Coach Ben Goodwin.

After a timeout with 2.7 seconds left, Falmouth’s Judd Armstrong got off a shot as time expired, but the ball bounced off the front of the rim.

“I don’t know how long 2.7 seconds is, but it seemed like a very long time. (Armstrong) did get a decent look, but lucky for us, it just front-rimmed,” Goodwin said.

Falmouth was down by 10 points in the second quarter and 21-18 at halftime, but took their first lead of the game, 23-21, on a Lucas Dilworth basket with 6:27 left in the third quarter.

“They didn’t quit, but that’s the way this team has been playing all year. One possession at a time. We got caught up in the atmosphere at the beginning. We started rushing things. Once we started attacking the pressure, things happened for us and we had a chance at the end,” said Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan.

The Navigators led by as many as six points in the third, but a technical foul on Eli Cowperthwaite as the quarter ended allowed Brewer’s Brady Saunders to make two free throws and cut Falmouth’s lead to 35-31 going into the fourth.

Coming off a South regional in which it never allowed more than 34 points in a game, Falmouth did an excellent job of slowing down the Witches’ potent offense. Brewer averaged 71 points per game in the North tournament and appeared on its way to another high-scoring effort by the end of the first quarter. Saunders, who earlier in the day was named a finalist for Mr. Basketball, made a 3-pointer with 1:34 left in the first quarter to give Brewer a 15-5 lead.

“They’re one of the best defensive teams we played this season. They did an outstanding job on our guards. They made it tough for us to get looks, and they’re very physical. All the points were coming very tough,” Goodwin said.

Saunders entered the game averaging close to 22 points per game. Falmouth’s defense, led by Peyton Mitchell, who spent most of the night guarding Saunders, held the Brewer senior to nine points, including just two field goals.

“It was a team defense. Peyton Mitchell’s been our top defender all tournament long. You look back at the guys he’s guarded, he kept them out of double figures, and they were averaging 17 to 20 points a game. We told him it’s not 1-on-1, it’s 1-on-5.” Halligan said.

Brewer led 19-9 midway through the second quarter, but the Navigators went on a run and pulled within a point, 19-18, on a Lucas Dilworth layup with 2:36 left in the quarter. Dilworth was fouled and had a chance to tie the game at the line, but he missed the free throw. Evan Nadeau’s free throws with 2:09 left gave Brewer a 21-18 halftime cushion.

Flagg and Ryder Goodwin each scored 11 points for Brewer, while Hughes grabbed seven rebounds. Paul Dilworth scored 15 points for Falmouth, and Lucas Dilworth added 14.

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