BANGOR – The end of an era at the Bangor Auditorium coincided with a new chapter in the history of Hampden Academy athletics.

And while much of the talk leading up to Saturday’s final Class A state championship games in Bangor was about memories, the Broncos were all about the here and now while defeating Deering of Portland 59-49 to win their first gold ball in boys basketball.

“I think being the first team from Hampden means a little more for us,” said HA senior forward Pat Moran. “Obviously being the last team to win it here is important, but other people have won it here before, so I think being the first for Hampden is a little better.”

The Broncos (19-4) used the same formula that served them well throughout their run from the ninth seed in Eastern A to the gold ball against a Deering team that couldn’t overcome foul trouble and an opponent unwilling to shrink in the face of championship-game pressure.

That formula featured the presence of 6-foot-10 junior center Jordan Cook, who had 23 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots.

“He’s been very unnoticed, under the radar,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “I’ve said all year he’s an all-state player that nobody knows anything about. They just know he’s tall, and he’s a lot more than tall.”

They know a lot more about Cook now. He shot 10 of 17 from the field Saturday, many on short jumpers from the lane, and was a defensive factor on nearly every shot Deering considered from close range.

“He did a nice job,” said Deering coach Dan LeGage. “He’s a good player and he’s 6-10 and has a nice touch around the basket. He did what he’s been doing all playoffs, putting the ball in the basket.”

Cook’s inside play was complemented by a suffocating man-to-man defense that limited Deering to 33 percent (20 of 61) shooting from the field.

Senior guard Blaine Meehan led that effort, holding Deering star Carlos Strong to three first-half points and just 10 until the game’s final two minutes, when Hampden had established a 52-41 lead.

“It’s just amazing, he’s just so strong and quick and a tough defender,” said Cook of Meehan. “He’s guarded the best players on every team we’ve played, pretty much the best players in the state, and he shut them all down.”

Hampden focused defensively on Strong and 6-6 center Martin Cleveland. While the two Deering cousins finished with 29 points, they shot just 12 of 31 from the field as Meehan led the challenge against Strong and Cook and the 6-4 Moran both worked effectively against the foul-plagued Cleveland.

“We wanted to focus on Strong and Cleveland,” said Hampden sixth man Josh McNutt. “We felt they were their two best players, and we just kept the idea up all week that it was five on two, that if we defended those two players and helped off the others, we’d be all right.”

Strong finished with 18 points on 8 of 22 shooting, while Cleveland contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Meehan added 11 points – shooting 9 of 12 from the free-throw line – and eight rebounds for Hampden, while sophomore guard Daniel McCue had seven points and five assists, McNutt had seven points, and Moran had six points and six rebounds.

Hampden outrebounded Deering 35-23, and shot 17 of 24 from the line compared to 5 of 14 for the Rams.

One of this game’s pivotal sequences came just before halftime.

Moran scored after grabbing an offensive rebound to rally Hampden to a 19-19 tie with 1:13 left in the second quarter. Deering then worked the clock down for the last shot, but Cleveland missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. That gave Hampden a chance to respond, and Meehan went aggressively to the basket and was fouled by Cleveland – his third – with two seconds left. Meehan made both free throws, Hampden had the lead, and Cleveland played the rest of the game in foul trouble.

Cleveland sat out the first 2:57 of the second half, and when he returned it took just 50 seconds for him to draw his fourth foul.

Cook scored and added a free throw on the same play, and Hampden had the lead for good at 28-25. Cleveland’s backup, Randy Hansen, fouled out less than a minute later, and Deering had little left in the way of inside defense.

“The fouls definitely put us at a disadvantage,” said LeGage. “Obviously with Cleveland in foul trouble and then Hansen, that allowed Cook to get rolling.”

Cook’s three-point play kicked off an 8-0 run that included a pair of Meehan free throws and a free throw and a fast-break layup by McNutt good for a 33-25 Hampden lead with 2:26 left in the third.

Deering (17-5) countered with five straight of its own, but a J Uhrin 3-pointer helped the Broncos maintain a 36-32 lead at the end of the period.

Hampden scored six consecutive points to open the fourth, McNutt capping the run with a layup off a McCue steal with 6:33 left.

Strong and Pat Plourd each made a 3-pointer as Deering crept within 44-38, but McCue answered with a “3” and McNutt fed Cook for a short jumper as the lead stretched back to double digits (49-39) with just over four minutes left.

Deering got no closer than seven the rest of the way, and Hampden made 6 of 7 free throws in the last 67 seconds to secure a championship – the final Class A boys championship won at the building symbolic of high school hoops in Maine for a half-century.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Meehan. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was 5 or 6 years old, playing in a state championship game, and now to win it is just amazing.”

BRONCOS 59, RAMS 49

Deering (17-5) Hampden Acad. (19-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Huff 0 0 1 2 1 Ross 0 0 0 0

Plourd 1 2 0 0 3 Meehan 1 2 12 11

Lelansky 1 9 0 0 2 Moran 3 3 6

Strong 8 22 0 1 18 McNutt 3 5 7

Miller 3 9 0 1 6 Uhrin 2 5 5

Hansen 0 1 0 0 0 McCue 1 6 7

Dewever 1 4 1 2 4 Silver 0 0 0

Cleveland 4 9 3 8 11 Cook 10 17 23

Stowell 2 5 0 0 4

Carbone 0 0 0 0 0

Dunn 0 0 0 0 0

Cantrell 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 61 5 14 49 Totals 20 38 17 24 59

Deering 9 19 32 49

Hampden Acad. 13 21 36 59

3-pt. goals – Deering (4-17): Strong 2-5, Plourd 1-1, Dewever 1-2, Miller 0-1, Cleveland 0-1, Lelansky 0-7; Hampden Acad. (2-6): Uhrin 1-2, McCue 1-4