Hampden tips Bangor in OT Rams can’t contain Cook

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AUGUSTA – The Hampden Academy boys basketball team was pushed to the brink Saturday, its talent and experience challenged by Bangor’s emerging group of underclassmen.

But overtime belonged to the defending state champs, who used an 8-0 run in the extra period to earn a 68-62 victory in an Eastern A quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I told the kids it would take a lot of courage for us to win today and to not just assume it was going to happen,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “We had to be willing to make plays, and we showed some fortitude when it was time.”

Hampden center Jordan Cook was the game’s dominant force, making 9 of 10 shots from the field and all nine of his free throws to finish with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

“He made shots, and he went to the line and made shots,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “I thought we had problems covering him no matter what we did.”

Daniel McCue added 18 points, including 14 of 16 from the line for a Hampden team that made 31 of 40 free throws overall, while J Uhrin had 13 points and five steals.

Lee Suvlu led Bangor with 15 points, including a runner over the 6-foot-10 Cook as the fourth quarter ended to force overtime. Alex Gallant had 14 points and six rebounds, while Ryan Weston had 11 points and seven boards.

“I thought our kids played hard and made some opportunities for themselves during the course of the game to get themselves back in it,” said Reed. “For young kids they handled themselves pretty well.”

Suvlu’s buzzer-beater gave Bangor momentum, but Hampden quickly snatched it back in overtime as Uhrin fed Cook for an inside basket and made a free throw after being fouled while stealing the subsequent inbounds pass to give the Broncos a 57-54 lead.

“It was a matter of who was going to make more plays,” said Bartlett, “and I thought us making the first basket of overtime and then getting the steal and the free throw, we got momentum immediately, and I thought that was the difference.”

Gallant cut the gap to 57-56 with two free throws, but Uhrin made two from the line and McCue penetrated Bangor’s zone to set up a Cook layup to make it 61-56.

“I just saw an open lane down the middle and took it,” said McCue. “I think it was Weston who stepped up, and I saw Cook open. I was hoping he might jam it.”

That was left to Uhrin, who followed two Cook free throws with a fast-break dunk to make it 65-56 with 50 seconds left.

The win sends No. 2 Hampden (16-3) to a 7 p.m. semifinal Wednesday against No. 3 Gardiner, a 61-60 overtime winner over No. 6 Mt. Blue of Farmington. Seventh-seeded Bangor (13-7) had hoped to reverse the result of last year’s quarterfinal, when No. 9 Hampden upended the top-ranked Rams.

But Cook scored nine points in the first quarter as the Broncos grabbed a 15-7 lead, and the margin was 27-17 when Uhrin hit a 3-pointer with one second left in the half.

Bangor rallied after intermission, with 3-pointers from sophomores Suvlu, Jon McAllian, and Billy Zolper helping the Rams pull within 37-36.

Bangor finally grabbed the lead at 44-43 when Sam Chase made a followup shot with 3:16 left in the game, but McCue fed Cook for a basket that gave Hampden back the lead.

The Broncos’ lead was 51-46 when McCue hit two free throws with 56 seconds left, but Suvlu made two free throws and McAllian hit another 3-pointer to help set up Suvlu’s last-second shot.

BRONCOS 68, RAMS 62 (OT)

Bangor (13-7) Hampden (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jellison 3 7 0 0 6 Uhrin 4 16 13

McAllian 2 7 1 2 7 Schaeffer 0 0

Zolper 2 5 0 0 5 Farley 0 1 4

Edwards 0 0 0 0 0 McCue 2 5 14 16 18

Suvlu 5 12 4 4 15 Hodgdon 1 6 2

Hackett 0 1 0 0 0 Silver 2 4 4

Webb 0 0 0 0 0 Cook 9 10 9 27

Gallant 4 13 6 6 14

Chase 1 1 0 0 2

Mead 1 1 0 0 2

Weston 3 6 5 6 11

Clrd-Sguin 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 21 53 16 18 62 Totals 18 42 31 40 68

Bangor 7 17 36 54 62

Hampden 15 27 39 54 68

3-pt. goals – Bangor (4-11): McAllian 1-4, Suvlu 1-1, Zolper 1-4, Jellison 0-1, Hackett 0-1; Hampden (1-13): Uhrin 1-9, Farley 0-1, McCue 0-3

Gardiner (15-4) used 20 points and 16 rebounds from junior center Sean McNally and 17 points and five assists from guard Kyle Stilphen to outlast 13-7 Mt. Blue. The Tigers also got a big game from Sam Kallman, who had 16 points and six rebounds.

“Every team we play brings help-side defense from Kallman,” said Gardiner coach Dana Doran. “They don’t think he can beat them, but today he did.”

John Moloney hit five 3-pointers and paced Mt. Blue with 19 points, while Arthur Trask had 18 points and Noah Paytas scored 10.

Mt. Blue scored 18 straight points in the second quarter to take a 35-28 halftime lead, but a 10-0 run helped Gardiner close within 45-42 by the end of the third period. Gardiner regained the lead at 50-49 on two straight baskets by Kallman midway through the fourth quarter and led 54-51 before Moloney forced overtime with a late 3-pointer.

Gardiner never trailed in OT, though the Tigers never led by more than three as they hit only one of their first six free throws before Stilphen and McNally each hit two from the line for a 61-58 lead with 31 seconds left.

Paytas made a followup shot with 16 seconds left, and Mt. Blue got one more chance when Wells stole an inbounds pass and fed Isaiah Brathwaite. Brathwaite missed a 3-pointer, and while the Cougars got the rebound, they couldn’t get another quality shot.

TIGERS 61, COUGARS 60 (OT)

Mt. Blue (13-7) Gardiner (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Trask 7 14 3 4 18 Stilphen 4 14 17

Wells 2 11 3 3 7 Burdin 0 2 0

Cleary 1 1 0 0 2 Kelley 2 2 4

Moloney 6 14 2 2 19 McNally 9 11 20

Toothaker 0 0 0 0 0 Kallman 7 10 16

A. Gilbert 1 3 0 1 2 Breton 0 0 1

Paytas 3 9 4 6 10 Lavalle 1 4 3

Brathwaite 1 7 0 0 2 Godfrey 0 0 0

Totals 21 59 12 16 60 Totals 23 38 14 23 61

Mt. Blue 17 35 45 54 60

Gardiner 24 28 42 54 61

3-pt. goals – Mt. Blue (6-23): Moloney 5-10, Trask 1-3, Wells 0-5, Brathwaite 0-5; Gardiner (1-7): Lavalle 1-4, McNally 0-1, Stilphen 0-2

In other Class A quarterfinal action, No. 5 Messalonskee of Oakland beat No. 13 Cony 62-58 and No. 1 Brunswick defeated No. 8 Morse of Bath 59-51. Messalonskee and Brunswick will meet in a Wednesday semifinal at 8:30 p.m.

EAGLES 62, RAMS 58

Cony (6-14) 58

O’Neill, Lui 5-1-11, O’Brien 1-2-3, Eldridge 9-5-23, Turner 2-0-6, Thurston 2-0-5, Ferland, Pullen 3-4-10

Messalonskee (15-5) 62

Stanhope 2-0-5, Brooks, Bryant, Gilbert, Evans 1-0-2, Tracy 1-1-4, Natole 5-10-23, Hash, Ovellende, Holmes 3-0-8, Taylor 2-1-5, Lessard 4-7-15

3-pt. goals: Turner 2, Thurston; Stanhope, Tracy, Natole 3, Holmes 2

Cony 10 28 41 58

Messalonskee 19 27 35 62

DRAGONS 59, SHIPBUILDERS 51

Morse (10-10) 51

Moreau, Siguolson, Walker, Cloutier, Hutchinson, MacDonald 3-1-7, Percy 5-2-12, Clancy 2-1-6, Levesque, Adams, Tuplin 6-7-22, Plummer, Kidney 1-2-4, Giles, Hook

Brunswick (17-2) 59

Totman, Dwyer 0-3-3, Underwood 1-6-8, Williams, Scolly 1-0-2, Eichinger 8-8-24, Miller, Dionne 5-1-11, Breiacher, Kelly, O’Dell 3-5-11, Martinez

3-pt. goals: Clancy, Tuplin 3; Underwood

Morse 9 14 34 51

Brunswick 12 25 41 59