HAMPDEN – It’s easy to forget that Hampden Academy is the two-time defending Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball champions.

This year’s roster has a couple of key links to that immediate past in seniors Daniel McCue and Evan Farley, but otherwise the Broncos have a different look and a much more perimeter-oriented approach.

Yet Hampden isn’t ready to relinquish its championship status, with Thursday night’s 48-39 victory over Lawrence of Fairfield sending the eighth-ranked Broncos back to the regional quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center.

“This means a lot to me because I’ve thought if we could get there, anything can happen,” said McCue, a fourth-year starter. “You never know.”

Hampden (10-9) faces a formidable challenge in its next game, a matchup against top-ranked and undefeated Edward Little of Auburn (18-0) at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

“I think when the season started no one thought we’d be that good and I wasn’t sure how good we’d be, to be honest,” Hampden coach Russ Bartlett said. “We lacked experience, we lacked size, and rebounding was a big concern, but us making it to Augusta I think is as big an accomplishment as winning it last year.

“The kids really bought into to what we were doing and they share the ball pretty well. We defend OK, but we’re going to have to defend a lot better on Saturday. We’ll see what we can do.”

McCue and Farley played key defensive roles in the preliminary-round win, limiting Lawrence guards Cameron Oakes and Jay Dangler to a combined 13 points – 16.5 points less than their collective average during the regular season, when the Bulldogs swept two close contests from the Broncos.

While ninth-seeded Lawrence (11-8) got good inside production from senior center Jon Doyen, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, the Bulldogs were unable to connect from the perimeter and shot just 31 percent (17 of 53) from the field.

“I thought we did a nice job on Jay and Cameron,” said Bartlett. “Oakes warmed up a little bit, but we really challenged Evan in pregame that we needed a man-sized defensive effort like we got from him last year, and he really stepped to the front tonight.”

Hampden’s offense balanced, but lightning-quick junior guard Antonio Juco provided the early spark that gave the Broncos a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Juco scored 11 points in the first half, seven in the second quarter as the Broncos outscored Lawrence 19-9 to take a 27-19 halftime lead.

“Juco’s been a catalyst for us all season,” said McCue. “Tonight he really stepped up his game, it’s probably the best game he’s played.”

Lawrence rallied behind the post play of Doyen and drew within 34-31 on a tip-in by Kurtis Bixby that beat the third- quarter buzzer.

The Bulldogs later got as close as 37-35 on back-to-back baskets by Oakes, but Juco scored on a drive to cool Lawrence’s momentum, and Hampden made nine of 10 free throws in the last 1 minute, 15 seconds to extend its lead.

“Juco was the key to the game,” said Lawrence coach Mike McGee. “He made some steals in a possession game that made things easier for them with easy baskets, and we didn’t make enough shots.”

Juco finished with 13 points and four steals, while McCue had 10 points and three steals for the Broncos. Justin Brown added nine points and eight rebounds, Brad Haase had seven points and Farley contributed six points and seven rebounds.

“The difference tonight was we played more as a team, especially on the offensive end,” said McCue. “It wasn’t one person who was doing all the scoring for us, it was spread out. We had some guys step up.”

BRONCOS 48, BULLDOGS 39

Lawrence (11-8) Hampden (10-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Costigan 0 0 0 0 0 Stephens 0 0

Oakes 4 13 0 0 9 Burke 0 0 1

Dangler 1 7 2 2 4 Evans 1 1 2

A.Chmpgn 2 4 2 2 6 Haase 3 9 7

Perkins 1 2 0 0 2 A.Hersey 0 0

Doyen 8 18 0 2 16 Juco 6 10 13

Bixby 1 1 0 0 2 Burditt 0 1 0

Bois 0 8 0 0 0 Farley 1 4 4 6

McCue 2 6 5 10

Brown 1 7 7 9

Totals 17 53 4 6 39 Totals 14 39 18 25 48

Lawrence 10 19 31 39

Hampden Acad. 8 27 34 48

3-pt. goals – Lawrence (1-7): Oakes 1-3, Bois 0-1, Dangler 0-3; Hampden Acad. (2-11): McCue 1-2, Juco 1-5, A. Hersey 0-1, Haase 0-1, Farley 0-1, Brown 0-1

Attendance: 700 (est.)