HAMPDEN – When Hampden Academy girls basketball coach Ben Greenlaw called for a timeout late in Saturday’s game against Bangor, the Broncos knew they were going to get instructions for the final moments.

Greenlaw handled the on-court strategy in the 60-second break. Senior Cheryl Morris took charge of the mental part of it.

“She told us that we were going to win this game,” junior center Jill Beal. “That really brought us some confidence.”

“She told us to play to win,” guard Kim Stephenson added.

With Morris’ words on their minds, Hampden held on for a 36-33 victory over the Big East Conference rival Rams in what was the first big test of the season for both teams.

The Broncos, now 3-0, held up well in the closing moments even as Bangor (2-1) rallied from a seven-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.

Hampden had a 30-23 lead when Ilyse Angst hit both ends of a 1-and-1, followed by a Caroline Weymouth 3-pointer from the right wing. Morris answered back for Hampden, scoring a layup on a long pass from the backcourt against Bangor’s press to make it 32-28.

Serena Dubois, who scored nine of her team-high 11 points in the second half, put back an offensive rebound, drew a foul and made the free throw to cut the lead to one point. Beal scored off an inbounds pass from Morris to stretch out the lead again.

Greenlaw called for a timeout with 1:51 left and the Broncs came out in a slow-down offense. But they turned the ball over on a bad pass and Weymouth put back a rebound to make it 34-33.

The Rams had to foul. The Broncs got into the bonus with 5.7 seconds left and Morris made two free throws, sealing the win.

“We came back well and I’m proud of the effort we had,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “[Hampden is] very quick. We just didn’t play smart and we missed some foul shots. Hampden played very well, you have to give them a lot of credit.”

The Rams went 11-for-20 from the free-throw line.

Both teams played excellent man-to-man defense in the first half. That, along with a combined 20 turnovers for both teams and poor shooting, led to a 9-9 halftime tie.

“We didn’t get the ball inside that much and we felt like we didn’t have much offensive composure in the first half,” Greenlaw said. “We felt like we had to slow ourselves down offensively and get good shots. I think both teams did that. It was an entertaining second half.”

Freshman Tanna Ross led Hampden with nine points.

Bangor took a 12-9 lead early in the third on a Weymouth 3-pointer. Hampden came back but the Rams made it 20-19 later in the quarter as Dubois went inside for two baskets. Again, the Broncs rallied for a lead at the end of the quarter thanks to a Ross 3-pointer and two baskets by Amy Ryder.

Ryder was in the game for Beal, who picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter. Ryder had six points in the period.

BRONCOS 36, RAMS 33

Bangor (2-1) Hampden (3-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ogden 0 2 1 2 1 Ghiringhelli 3 7

Angst 0 5 2 2 2 Stephenson 1 2

Porter 0 3 1 2 1 Veinote 1 4 2

Clarke 1 7 1 2 3 Morris 1 4 4

White 0 0 0 0 0 Ross 4 10 9

McAllian 0 0 0 0 0 Thompson 0 0

Weymouth 4 16 2 4 12 Beal 3 4 6

Webb 0 3 1 2 1 Ryder 3 4 0 6

Curtis 1 4 0 0 2

Dubois 4 10 3 6 11

Sullivan 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 10 50 11 20 33 16 38 36

Bangor 4 9 22 33

Hampden 5 9 26 36

3-pt. goals ? Bangor (2-9): Weymouth 2-5, Angst 0-1, Porter 0-1, Webb 0-1, Clarke 0-1; Hampden (2-4): Ghiringhelli 1-1, Ross 1-2, Veinote 0-1

Attendance: 250 (est.)

JV: Hampden 54-30