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HAMPDEN – Until the final eight minutes of Tuesday night’s Eastern Maine Class A preliminary playoff game, Hampden reserve Briana Bragg hadn’t done much to make her stand out.
Her line after three quarters: One shot (a miss). No rebounds. No assists. No points. … nothing.
But over the final five minutes, Bragg made up for all that. The 5-foot-6 senior scored seven straight points to help fuel the key HA surge, drew the foul that disqualified Old Town’s standout point guard, and paved the way for a 54-45 Eastern Maine Class A Northeastern division win.
Entering the final quarter, HA had rebounded from a six-point deficit and trailed 36-34. Coach Mike Webb’s fourth-quarter strategy was simple: Do something to stop Old Town senior Kasey Spencer.
The solution: Give the ball to Bragg.
“Kasey had four fouls, so we were just trying to take it to her,” Bragg said. “She happened to be guarding me, so [Webb] told me to take it to her, and hopefully draw a foul.”
Bragg scored two straight hoops – the second, with 3:33 to play, gave the Broncos the lead for good at 45-44 – then achieved the other objective 17 seconds later, when she drove the lane.
Spencer was whistled for her fifth foul, Bragg made one of two from the line, and the complexion of the game changed.
“Once she’s out, they’re easier to press,” Webb said. “They lose their penetration. And she’s their quarterback.”
The final 3:16 of Spencer-free hoop verified Webb’s assessment: The Indians turned the ball over four times after Spencer fouled out, and Hampden finished off the win with a Bragg layup off the press and a 4-for-8 effort from the free throw line.
Webb said he knew Bragg’s strengths were a perfect fit for what the Broncos had in mind down the stretch.
“She’s got a knack for going to the hole, and she’s a good free throw shooter,” he said.
Megan Magoon paced the Bronco attack with 18 points while Megan Robinson pitched in with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Emmy Russell blocked three shots and grabbed seven rebounds.
Old Town reeled off a 15-4 run to start the second half and take a 36-30 lead thanks to some nifty penetrate-and-dish efforts by Spencer and Renee Thibodeau.
Sarah Metivier (10 points) was the beneficiary of those drives, as she made four straight perimeter jumpers in the third.
Spencer finished with 14 points and six rebounds while Thibodeau added 11 points and nine boards.
HA’s Robinson said it took awhile for her team to adjust to Old Town’s patient attack in the third.
“I don’t think we were recovering enough [after the penetration],” she said. “When they put it down low and kicked it back out we really weren’t expecting it. I guess it kind of took us off guard for a minute.”
Old Town coach Greg Thibodeau pointed at one stat as the key to the game.
“You ain’t gonna win many games with the other team going [30] times to the foul line,” he said. “That was the difference in the game.”
Old Town shot 7-for-15 from the line to HA’s 15-for-30.
BRONCOS 54, INDIANS 45
Old Town (11-8) Hampden (16-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
K. Spencer 6 10 1 2 14 Caron 3 7 9
Greene 1 4 0 0 2 Magoon 6 11 18
Thibodeau 2 13 6 9 11 Campbell 0 1
Marquis 0 0 0 0 0 Bragg 3 8 7
D. Spencer 0 0 0 0 0 Russell 2 4 4
Brown 3 5 0 0 6 Robinson 5 14 3 8 13
L. Mitchell 0 0 0 0 0 Spaulding 0 0
K. Mitchell 1 2 0 0 2 Hessert 0 2 2
Metivier 5 12 0 0 10
Kennedy 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 18 46 7 11 45 Totals 19 50 15 30 54
Old Town 7 21 36 45
Hampden 18 26 34 54
3-pt. goals: Old Town (2-4): K. Spencer 1-1, Thibodeau 1-3; Hampden (1-2): Caron 1-2
Attendance: 1,000 (est.)
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