HAMPDEN – Jacob Moore had little to show for the first 25 field-goal attempts of his 2008-09 high school basketball season – just three had passed through the net.

“I was really frustrated,” said Moore, a 6-foot-6 junior forward for Hampden Academy. “My jump shot wasn’t falling and I couldn’t get any calls.”

But shot No. 26 couldn’t have been cleaner, a 14-foot jumper from just left of the free-throw lane by Moore that gave the Broncos the lead for good en route to a 44-36 Class A victory over Bangor on Friday night.

“I told him there aren’t many players I know that have the courage to still take that shot after the struggles he went through tonight,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “That shot was the difference in the game. We got the lead, we held the ball, they fouled us, we made free throws and coasted home.”

Both teams are sporting new looks this season after absorbing heavy graduation losses, and with many players making their prime-time debuts the squads had difficulty finding a comfortable offensive rhythm.

Bangor used its inside strength – particularly junior Dan Taft, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds – to build a 33-27 lead through three quarters before Moore and junior point guard Nolan Turner combined for 13 points as Hampden outscored the Rams 17-3 over the game’s final eight minutes.

Moore sandwiched three free throws around a layup set up by Turner to pull Hampden within 33-32 two minutes into the fourth quarter. Turner then drove the lane to give the Broncos their first lead since 2-0.

Taft answered with a free throw and Ryan Larochelle followed with a short jumper with 5:16 left, but those were Bangor’s final points.

Brad Dolan made 1-of-2 from the line to pull Hampden within 36-35, then Moore stepped in for a medium-range jumper to give Hampden a 37-36 lead with 3:10 to play.

“I caught it in the corner on the wing, and I hadn’t been hitting my jump shot all night so I gave a little pump fake,” said Moore, who finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. “The elbow jumper’s a shot I like to practice a lot, so I was pretty comfortable shooting it.”

Turner (eight points, six rebounds, three steals) came up with a steal 30 seconds later, and Hampden then worked on the clock and forced Bangor to foul. The Broncos made 7 of 8 from the line in the final 62 seconds as Turner, Greg O’Donnell and Moore made two apiece and Dolan added one more in the final seconds.

“It’s a good confidence booster for our kids because no one on this team had ever beaten them in a basketball game,” said Bartlett. “Confidence-wise it’s great, but we’re 1-0 with 17 to go and a long road ahead of us to see where we end up.”

Bangor controlled play early by working the ball inside for higher-percentage shots than Hampden, which was content to fire away from the perimeter.

Taft went 5-for-5 in the first period alone to help the Rams build a 16-7 lead.

But the Rams, who shot 41 percent (15 for 37) through three periods compared to 17 percent (7 of 40) for Hampden, made just 1 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter, including 0-for-6 on 3-pointers after falling behind.

“We had a hard time stopping them in the first half, but in the second half we came around on defense and found our groove and hit shots when we needed to,” said Turner.

Turner’s penetration enabled Hampden to get the better percentage shots later in the game – or earn trips to the free-throw line, where the Broncos made 24 of 33 shots compared to 3-for-10 for Bangor.

“Nolan was able to get us good shots whether he shot it himself or he created us a shot,” said Bartlett. “There’s a reason he’s our captain. He’s the heart and soul of what we’re trying to do. His leadership and will to win are very contagious.”

BRONCOS 44, RAMS 36

Bangor (0-1) Hampden Acad. (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Larochelle 4 7 0 0 8 Turner 1 5 8

Frazier 0 1 0 0 0 Lester 0 0 0

Gray 0 0 0 0 0 Moore 4 26 6 14

Susi 1 3 0 0 3 Dolan 0 4 7 10 7

Savage 0 0 0 0 0 O’Donnell 1 4

Winchester 1 5 0 0 2 N. Burditt 2 4

Blodgett 0 2 0 2 0 G. Burditt 1 4

Taft 8 13 1 6 17 Bisbee 1 3 1 3

Henigan 0 4 1 1 1

Hall 0 9 0 0 0

Hartley 0 1 0 0 0

Noonan 2 2 1 1 5

Higgins 0 0 0 0 0

Alexander 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 16 47 3 10 36 Totals 10 48 24 33 44

Bangor 16 24 33 36

Hampden Acad. 7 18 27 44

3-pt. goals – Bangor (1-11): Susi 1-2, Frazier 0-1, Winchester 0-1, Larochelle 0-3, Hall 0-4; Hampden Acad. (0-11): N. Burditt 0-1, Dolan 0-1, Moore 0-9

JV: Bangor 43-35

Attendance: 650 (est.)