Hampden rolls to 2nd straight title

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AUGUSTA – Hampden Academy’s success in boys basketball the last two seasons has been based in no small part on an understanding of individual roles within the team concept.

That reality proved too much for top-seeded Brunswick on Friday night, as some of the Broncos’ role players joined 6-foot-10 center Jordan Cook and guard J Uhrin on center stage to lift No. 2 Hampden past the Dragons 62-49 at the Augusta Civic Center on Friday night for its second consecutive Eastern Maine Class A title.

The defending state champs (18-3) will play the winner of Friday’s Western A final between Portland High and Deering of Portland for the state championship next Saturday at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

Cook controlled the inside while amassing 26 points, 13 rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots, but he got a big boost up front from senior forward Max Silver, who finished with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

“Max came up huge,” said Cook. “We drive and dish and the defense usually stays on my side, but Max can definitely finish around the basket if he gets good looks, and we got him the ball tonight and he did that.”

Cook and Silver helped Hampden gain a 42-26 rebounding advantage.

“We were overmatched in the paint sizewise, and Hampden punished us on the boards,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson. “When you give a good team like that three or four cracks at it, they’re either going to score or get fouled, and they capitalized.”

The Broncos also got a big defensive effort from junior guard Evan Farley, who limited Brunswick standout Doug Eichinger to eight points on 3 of 14 shooting.

“Evan Farley has been just a man for us defensively,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “He’s really stepped up his game the last month of the season and really become a defensive stopper for us.”

Overall, Hampden limited Brunswick to 26 percent (15 of 59) shooting from the field, a number that would have been even lower but for the long-range bombing of Dragons’ senior Jordan Kelly, who set an Eastern A tournament single-game record with eight 3-point goals and finished with 28 points.

“I thought we had some good looks early but unfortunately we weren’t able to convert on them,” Hanson said. “This year we’ve kind of lived and died with the perimeter shot, and I’m glad Jordan made the bus ride tonight or we would have really been in trouble.”

Uhrin added 14 points and six rebounds for Hampden, while point guard Daniel McCue added nine points, including 7 of 8 from the line.

Hampden never trailed after McCue hit a jumper good for a 6-5 lead less than two minutes into the contest.

Kelly kept Brunswick close with 11 first-quarter points, but Cook countered with 10 as the Broncos moved out to an 18-11 lead.

Brunswick (18-3) narrowed the gap one more time before intermission, getting within 23-18 on an Eichinger runner. But Hampden scored the last six points of the half, including a controversial tip-in by Cook after Hampden inbounded the ball with 0.1 seconds left.

“It gave us a lot of momentum going into halftime getting those last couple of baskets,” said Cook, who had 14 points and eight rebounds at the break. “And that basket counting at the buzzer helped, too.

“There was only point-one so I just had to go tap it. I just went up and kind of tapped it and tried to put it near the hoop, and it went in.”

The half-ending run grew to 14-0 early in the third period, and Hampden eventually extended its lead to as much as 18 points at 38-20 on a Silver free throw with 4:47 left in the quarter.

The margin was 48-34 entering the fourth period, and Brunswick never really got much closer, getting only within 56-45 on Kelly’s eighth 3-pointer with 2:07 left.

BRONCOS 62, DRAGONS 49

Hampden (18-3) Brunswick (18-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Juco 0 0 0 0 0 Totman 0 0 0 0

Maddox 0 0 0 0 0 Dwyer 0 0 0

Evans 0 0 0 0 0 Underwd 0 8 0

Uhrin 6 11 2 3 14 Williams 1 2

Schaeffer 0 2 0 0 0 Scully 0 1 3

Farley 0 2 0 0 0 Eichinger 3 14 2 4 8

McCue 1 4 7 8 9 Miller 0 1 0

Spaulding 0 0 0 0 0 Dionne 0 10 2

Hodgdon 1 2 0 0 3 Breisachr 0 0

Silver 4 9 2 4 10 Kelly 9 19 28

Cook 12 21 2 2 26 O’Dell 1 4 2 4

Aurelio 0 1 0 0 0 Martinez 0 0

Frazier 1 1 0 2

Totals 24 52 13 17 62 Totals 15 59 11 18 49

Hampden 18 29 48 62

Brunswick 11 18 34 49

3-pt. goals – Hampden (1-4): Hodgdon 1-2, McCue 0-1, Uhrin 0-1; Brunswick (8-24): Kelly 8-15, Miller 0-1, Underwood 0-4, Eichinger 0-4

Attendance: