Meehan, Broncos shut down shooters Perimeter defense key for Hampden

Blaine Meehan could be forgiven for feeling tired as he and his Hampden Academy teammates awaited receipt of the Eastern Maine Class A championship plaque last Monday evening.

“I’m a little out of breath right now,” said Meehan, a 5-foot-10 senior guard.

That’s because this brief moment, just after the Broncos defeated Oxford Hills of South Paris 47-40 to win the program’s first Eastern A title, represented his first chance to relax after spending virtually the entire tournament battling through screen after annoying screen, all designed to keep him from his defensive duties.

They didn’t work.

Meehan and his perimeter mates limited three of the top-scoring guards in Eastern Maine, Aaron Gallant of Bangor, Chris Wilson of Brewer and Matt McDonnell of Oxford Hills, to a combined 12 of 49 shooting (24 percent) from the field in three games, with just four field goals apiece.

That helped the Broncos yield just 38 points in the tournament while defeating No. 1 Bangor, No. 13 Brewer and No. 2 Oxford Hills – all after a preliminary-round win at No. 8 Mt. Blue of Farmington in which Hampden also allowed just 38 points.

“It’s been like this the last few games,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett, whose team will play Deering of Portland for the state championship at 3:05 p.m. Saturday in the final Class A tournament game at the Bangor Auditorium.

“Our defense kept us in it, and we finally made some plays. Offensive flow goes up and down during a game, but the defensive flow has to be constant.”

Certainly the Broncos benefit defensively from the inside presence of 6-foot-10 junior center Jordan Cook and 6-4 senior Pat Moran.

But many of the big offensive threats in this year’s tournament did their work on the perimeter, which is where Meehan, junior J Uhrin and sophomore Daniel McCue came up big for the Broncos.

That’s particularly true of Meehan, who regularly draws the top defensive assignment.

“We have a team concept on defense, and what we do with Blaine is we allow him to lock up one man, and his responsibility is that one guy,” said Bartlett. “He chases him down for 32 minutes or as many minutes as we keep him on the floor.

“I don’t know the most any one guy has scored on him in a game this year, but 12 or 14 is about it. Chris [Wilson] and McDonnell and Aaron [Gallant] can all tell you that he’s relentless.”

Meehan achieves his defensive mission through a combination of athleticism – he dunked after a steal during Hampden’s semifinal win against Brewer – and anticipation.

“Obviously Blaine’s very quick and very strong,” Bartlett said. “The biggest thing about him is he’s able to chase down people when they come off a screen. He has great recovery speed, so by the time you catch the ball after coming off a screen, you don’t have time to shoot it. He’s already there.

“He’s just one of those guys you can run, run, run around screen after screen, but when you catch the ball, he’s there.”

Meehan has risen defensively to handle the best guards Eastern A has to offer. But one more challenge remains as Hampden pursues the school’s first state championship in boys basketball.

Deering is led by 6-2 junior guard Carlos Strong, named most valuable player of the Western A tournament after averaging nearly 16 points in the Rams’ three victories.

But ask his brethren within the Hampden Academy program, and they believe Meehan will be up to the challenge one more time.

“Blaine’s been playing tremendous defense all tourney,” said Cook. “I don’t know what else to say, he’s really stepped it up. He’s quick, he’s a great defender.”