AUGUSTA – The Hampden Academy boys basketball team was ready for Messalonskee’s bevy of 3-point shooters.

And the Broncos were ready to contend with 6-foot-4 Eagles’ center Eric Taylor.

But in Orlando Holmes, Messalonskee had one extra weapon that Hampden couldn’t contain.

The 6-2 junior forward scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds Wednesday night as the Eagles ended Hampden’s two-year reign as Eastern Maine Class A champions with a 55-50 semifinal victory at the Augusta Civic Center.

“Orlando stepped up and hit some huge shots,” said Messalonskee coach Tom Hill.

The win advances No. 5 Messalonskee (16-5) to Friday night’s regional championship game against No. 2 Bangor, a 57-55 winner over Mt. Blue of Farmington.

Hampden, the No. 8 seed, finishes its season with an 11-10 record.

Holmes scored 14 points in the first half to stake Messalonskee to a 33-30 lead, and while Hampden forged a 38-38 tie on a basket by Antonio Juco midway through the third quarter, the Eagles countered with a 12-2 run to build a 50-40 advantage with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Matt Natole had eight points during that surge, including a pair of 3-point goals, the final one giving Messalonskee its largest lead of the game.

Key to that run was the success of the Eagles’ 1-3-1 zone, to which Hill had resorted shortly after intermission after Hampden standout Daniel McCue had scored 14 second-quarter points to keep the Broncos close.

“We prepped for it, but we stood and held the ball a lot,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett, “and then we had some key turnovers where we threw the ball into areas that just weren’t open. We needed to skip it across the top of the zone, but instead we were kicking it into the high post and it just wasn’t open.

“I thought we got a little timid, and that’s to their credit. I just didn’t think we would become timid at that point because we had prepped for it.”

McCue hit a long 3-pointer with 5:11 left in the game for his first second-half field goal, and that ignited a Hampden rally that got the Broncos to within 54-50 on a fast-break layup by Juco with 1:22 left.

Hampden then got the ball back with the chance to make it a one-possession game, but couldn’t manufacture a quality shot.

“They were better than us tonight,” said Bartlett. “I told the kids if we could get it to one possession, and we almost did, then we would play for one and try to win it. We didn’t get there, but we were close.”

Holmes was one of four Messalonskee players to score in double figures – they were the only Eagles to score in the game. Nick Ouellette added 12 points, Natole scored 11 and Taylor finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Eagles amassed a 34-21 advantage on the backboards.

McCue finished with 17 points for Hampden, while Juco added 15.

The teams traded five ties before Messalonskee took a 14-11 lead when Taylor converted a three-point play after grabbing an offensive rebound with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.

In fact, nine of the Eagles’ points in the period came off the offensive glass.

“We talked about that if they were going to shoot perimeter jump shots, then there’s going to be long rebounds and we’ve got to make sure to check out and get to the boards,” said Hill.

Another follow-up basket, this time by Holmes, gave Messalonskee a 25-19 cushion and forced a Hampden timeout midway through the second period.

Holmes would finish the quarter with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field and a 3 of 3 effort from the free-throw line as he offset McCue’s second-period heroics for the Broncos.

EAGLES 55, BRONCOS 50

Hampden (11-10) Messalonskee (16-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Burke 0 4 0 0 0 Pelletier 0 0

Evans 0 0 0 0 0 Bernier 0 0 0

Haase 2 10 1 1 5 Hutchinsn 0 0

Juco 7 13 1 2 15 Gilbert 0 0 0 0

Burditt 0 1 0 0 0 Natole 3 14 11

Farley 3 4 0 0 7 Ouellette 4 12

McCue 6 14 2 4 17 Dubois 0 2 0

Brown 1 7 3 4 6 Holmes 8 15 22

Taylor 4 7 2 10

Haggan 0 0 0 0

Totals 19 53 7 11 50 Total 19 48 11 14 55

Hampden 11 30 39 50

Messalonskee 14 33 45 55

3-pt. goals – Hampden (5-21): McCue 3-8, Brown 1-1, Farley 1-2, Burke 0-1, Juco 0-3, Haase 0-6; Messalonskee (6-17): Holmes 2-4, Natole 2-6, Ouellette 2-6, Dubois 0-1