HAMPDEN – Sometimes, you have to take advantage of what the opponent gives you.

Especially if the opponent is giving you open looks at the basket.

That’s what the Hampden Academy girls basketball team found itself with, especially early in Tuesday night’s Eastern Maine Class A matchup against rival Bangor.

The Broncos made the most of what it got against the Rams’ zone defense, sharp-shooting their way to a 57-28 victory at the high school gymnasium.

Senior Tanna Ross, who will play for the University of Maine next year, scored 16 points to help Hampden even its record at 1-1 after a season-opening loss to Mt. Blue of Farmington on Saturday.

“We played exceptionally well tonight,” Hampden coach Ben Greenlaw said. “We shot the ball exceptionally well and we defended well.”

The Rams, coming off a huge victory Friday in which they rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Skowhegan, fall to 1-1.

“We have to play with much more intensity on both ends of the floor,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “It’s not so much the loss but I don’t feel we played with as much intensity as we could.”

There would be no comeback this time as Hampden jumped out to a 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ross and sophomore guard Kayla Webb combined to hit four of their five 3-point attempts, with Webb going 3-for-4. She didn’t score again, but the Broncs’ 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter proved enough to put away the Rams.

“It seemed like they were staying back and just letting us shoot and they were hoping we would miss,” Ross said. “We just had to have confidence in ourselves.”

Hampden was somewhat concerned, despite a 34-11 halftime lead, Bangor would mount another rally.

“We knew what happened against Skowhegan, so we wanted to come out intense and make sure we stopped them right away, and got going in the second half,” Webb said.

Greenlaw said the Broncs were hoping to gain some separation early in the third quarter, and that’s exactly what happened. Ross hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game and Kimble Rawcliffe converted a three-point play after an offensive-rebound putback to give Hampden a 40-11 lead with 5:50 left in the period.

Rawcliffe finished with six points and a game-high six rebounds.

Hampden went 8-for-13 from 3-point range and was 21-for-41 (51.2 percent) overall against the Rams’ 2-3 zone defense.

Hampden’s Lindsey Martin came off the bench to score eight points.

Bangor had 16 turnovers in the first three quarters and struggled against Hampden’s man-to-man defense. The Rams went 9-for-35 (25.7 percent) from the field.

“Everyone’s looking for someone else to do it offensively,” Tennett said. “We don’t have anyone who’s a real confident offensive player.”

Rawcliffe guarded Bangor’s Tawnya Godinez, who had seven points, five from the free-throw line.

“We just tried to be real active and give early help defensively when they tried to get to the basket,” Greenlaw said. “The rest of it was more an attitude of being aggressive.”

Bangor was without starting forward Caitlin Smith, who sprained her right ankle against Skowhegan, and backup guard Casey Hartley, who is sick. Smith is out indefinitely and Hartley should be back next week.

BRONCOS 57, RAMS 28

Bangor (1-1) Hampden (1-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Anselmino 0 0 0 1 0 Webb 3 6 9

B. Hackett 1 4 0 2 2 Pond 1 4 2

Dana 1 4 0 2 2 Littlefield 1 1 2

Heath 1 4 2 2 4 Foster 0 1 2

A. Hackett 2 6 2 2 6 Libbey 1 4 5

Doucette 0 0 0 0 0 Wilson 1 1 2

Roberts 0 2 1 2 1 K.Rwclffe 3 6

Sivik 0 1 0 0 0 Martin 4 7 8

Curtis 0 2 0 0 0 Ross 6 8 16

Clukey 2 4 0 0 4 Hill 0 0 2

Comstock 1 1 0 1 2 R.Rwclffe 0 0

Godinez 1 7 5 6 7 Eldridge 0 0

Maltz 1 3 1 3

Totals 9 35 10 18 28 Totals 21 41 12 57

Bangor 5 11 16 28

Hampden 16 34 47 57

3-pt. goals – Bangor (0-3): Dana 0-1, Godinez 0-2; Hampden (8-13): Ross 4-5, Web 3-5, Libbey 0-1, Pond 0-1

JV: Hampden 31-30

Attendance: 225 (est.)