AUGUSTA – It was a rout not atypical of a 1-8 matchup – except the eighth seed won.

No. 8 Hampden Academy stunned top-ranked and previously undefeated Edward Little of Auburn 57-39 in an Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center, and it wasn’t even that close.

After outscoring EL 15-2 in the third quarter, the Broncos took a 43-22 lead into the final period and there was little University of Maine-bound senior Troy Barnies or his teammates could do about it.

“Tonight was the first night this year we put our talent and our smarts and our intensity all together,” said Hampden senior guard Daniel McCue, who scored a game-high 18 points. “Before we’ve been streaky. We’ve got talent, but tonight was the first time we put the whole package together.”

Not that Hampden hadn’t been here before. Two years ago, the ninth-seeded Broncos ousted No. 1 Bangor in the quarterfinals en route to the program’s first state championship.

“This ranks up there with the Bangor defeat when we were No. 9 for sure,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett, whose 11-9 Broncos face No. 5 Messalonskee of Oakland in an 8:30 p.m. Wednesday semifinal.

“The difference is this team might not be as talented as that team was, but tonight we showed some mental toughness, and all the things you work on every day, like valuing the ball and getting great shots … it all came together for us tonight.”

In the 6-foot-7 Barnies, the Broncos faced their biggest defensive challenge to date this season, but Bartlett devised a strategy featuring veterans Evan Farley and McCue that included a diamond-and-one alignment or a man-to-man set with junior center Justin Brown essentially playing a one-person zone that provided an extra defender against the EL standout.

Barnies finished with 10 points on 3 of 12 shooting.

“That was our game plan because I thought Troy was that good offensively,” said Bartlett. “It’s the first time I’ve played a gadget defense in my life. I wasn’t sold on it when we first practiced it, but I felt like it was going to give us an opportunity to win the game if Troy wasn’t taking shots and we did a good job of denying him the ball, and I thought we did. Daniel and Evan did a great job of limiting his touches tonight.”

Offensively Hampden used its abundance of ballhandlers to spread EL’s defense, then attacked the rim relentlessly. The Broncos shot 65 percent from the field (20 of 31), largely because they were getting layups.

Hampden junior guard Antonio Juco made all six of his field-goal tries, including a back-breaking 3-pointer as the third quarter ended, and finished with 14 points, while Brown had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds and junior guard Brad Haase scored 10 points.

“We like to spread the floor because we’re very guard-oriented,” said McCue, “and we’ve got a lot of people who can handle the basketball, so most of the night we were dribble-driving and looking to pitch until finally the lane was open.”

But this win was more about the points Hampden didn’t allow. That tone was set early, as Barnies barely touched the ball in the first quarter while the Broncos built momentum, if not an immediate lead.

“This was the best defense we’ve played all year,” said Farley. “I think we realized it was going to work right off the bat. The first quarter we went out and were totally focused and did what we needed to do.”

Hampden took control with an 11-2 run midway through the second quarter. McCue hit a 3-pointer, two free throws and a runner and fed Brown for a basket while Juco added a drive to give the Broncos a 24-14 lead en route to a 28-20 halftime edge.

“The first half we had 28 points, and we wanted it to be 25 or 22,” said Bartlett. “But we were shooting layups, and when we’re shooting layups I’ve got no problem with that. We can shoot layups anytime.”

Hampden put the game away with a third-quarter defensive effort that limited 18-1 EL to 1-for-14 shooting from the field. Barnies got a few more touches, but farther and farther away from the basket and nowhere near enough to counter two 3-pointers by Juco, one by McCue and a couple of fast-break baskets.

BRONCOS 57, RED EDDIES 39

Hampden (11-9) Edward Little (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Stephens 0 0 0 0 0 Philbrook 3 8

Burke 0 0 0 1 0 Hartnett 3 11 0 0 7

Evans 0 1 0 0 0 Prue 3 6 8

Haase 4 9 2 3 10 Houston 0 0 0

A. Hersey 0 0 0 2 0 Bilodeau 0 0

Juco 6 6 0 2 14 Leary 1 3 0 2

Burditt 0 0 0 0 0 Tro.Brnis 3 12 4 5 10

Farley 1 3 2 2 4 Daigle 0 0 0

McCue 4 5 8 10 18 Martin 0 2 0

Brown 5 7 1 4 11 Therriault 0 0

M. Sharif 2 5 4

Tra.Brnis 0 0 0

Totals 20 31 13 24 57 Totals 15 48 39

Hampden 9 28 43 57

Edward Little 10 20 22 39

3-pt. goals – Hampden (4-5): Juco 2-2, McCue 2-2, Farley 0-1; Edward Little (5-19): Philbrook 2-4, Prue 2-5, Hartnett 1-5, Bilodeau 0-1, Therriault 0-1, Troy Barnies 0-3