BANGOR – In less than one minute of play, Cony’s Ashley Underwood delivered a knockout punch to the upset-minded No. 5 Hampden Academy girls basketball team in its Eastern Maine Class A semifinal against the No. 1 Rams of Augusta Thursday night.

Underwood scored eight points in a 34-second span just before halftime, and finished with a game-high 22 points, to lead Cony to an 87-59 victory at the Bangor Auditorium, and a berth in the Eastern Maine championship game.

Undefeated Cony, which tied a tournament record for most points in a game, will face No. 2 Nokomis of Newport (the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal) in Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship game. Coach Paul Vachon’s Rams are seeking their seventh regional crown and first since 1998.

Underwood helped Cony come back from a one-point deficit and go into the locker room with a nine-point advantage.

The Broncos (14-7) had reeled off an 8-0 run to retake the lead with 2:26 left in the second quarter – thanks to two baskets from Emmy Russell and four Megan Robinson free throws – when the Rams made their move.

Underwood drained a 3-pointer for a 29-27 lead. Robinson answered inside for Hampden to tie it up, but Cony’s Lindsay Frye drove inside to take the lead for good with 1:54 left in the half.

Underwood then proceeded to score eight points on her own. She started with a conventional 3-point play, then put in a fast-break layup, and finally drove inside for another 3-point play, which she finished up with a free throw. The Rams had a 40-30 lead, their biggest of the game to that point.

“I think we just pressured the ball all over the court,” Underwood said of Cony’s run. “We just continued talking, communicating, to pump each other up. [Hampden] did an amazing job in the first half … they’re probably the team that stayed with us the most this year.”

Hampden had been there before, down by nine during the quarterfinal against No. 4 Skowhegan. Bronco point guard Jamie Wells said she told the team at halftime to recall its comeback against the Indians.

In the second half the Broncs stayed within eight points early, but Cony hit some long-range shots and scored on driving layups. The Rams emerged from the third quarter with a 13-point lead and outscored Hampden 28-13 in the fourth quarter.

“We went back out after halftime and I don’t think went out fired up like we should have been,” said Wells, a senior who had 12 points and four assists.

The Broncos turned the ball over 18 times compared to 12 for Cony, but had success playing against the Rams’ tough full-court press.

“We’ve been working hard this week and I think we handled the press well,” Wells said. “I think once we started missing our shots is when we kind of fell apart and we got down on ourselves after that.”

Hampden never jumped out to a huge lead but the Broncos did close the first quarter with an 18-16 advantage.

Cony shot well from all over the floor. The Rams went 30-for-55 from the floor and 23-for-30 from the free-throw line.

“We penetrated and dished, and that’s how we got good shots,” Underwood said.

Frye chipped in with 18 points and five assists. Clukey added 16 points.

The Rams also outrebounded the Broncos 38-32. Six-foot Jauna Andrews and 5-8 Clukey led the way with eight each, while 5-8 Hampden forward Emmy Russell grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and five blocks to go with 11 points.

HA’s Robinson finished with 12 points.

Cony’s 87-point effort ties this team with the 1990 Rams and a 1993 Lawrence of Fairfield squad.

Rams 87, Broncos 59

Hampden (14-7) Cony (20-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Caron 3 6 0 0 7 Underwood 8 13 22

Magoon 4 17 0 0 9 Purington 0 0 0

Wells 4 9 1 4 12 Frye 7 14 3 18

Wilson 1 2 0 0 2 Dumont 1 3 1 3

Bragg 2 3 0 0 4 Jackson 1 1 0 2

Martin 0 0 0 0 0 Kaplan 1 1 1 4

Russell 4 14 3 8 11 Whitlock 0 1 0

Robinson 4 6 4 4 12 Nickerson 2 4

Campbell 0 1 1 2 1 Morang 0 1 1

Shaw 0 1 1 2 1 Clukey 6 10 4 16

Butler 0 0 0 0 0 Dumont 0 0 0 0

Hessert 0 1 0 0 0 Sirois 2 4 4 8

Ireland 0 1 0 0 0 Andrews 2 5 5 9

Totals 22 61 10 20 59 Totals 30 55 23 30 87

Hampden 18 33 46 59

Cony 16 42 59 87

3-pt. goals: Hampden (5-14): Caron 1-4, Magoon 1-4, Wells 3-5, Shaw 0-1; Cony (4-10): Underwood 2-3, Frye 1-5, Kaplan 1-1, Sirois 0-1