FAIRFIELD – The focus returned to basketball at Folsom Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

And while the Lawrence Bulldogs made the best of a tough situation, Hampden Academy made the most of its opportunity.

The Broncos turned up their intensity after the opening few minutes of play and cruised to a pointworthy 58-35 Class A victory over a Lawrence team made up nearly entirely of junior varsity players.

This game matched two of the top five teams in the latest Eastern Maine Class A Heal points, but No. 5 Lawrence was forced to start a lineup of one varsity player and four teammates who swing between varsity and junior varsity.

That was the result of suspensions handed out to 10 other varsity players and head coach Mike McGee for their roles in an altercation that halted Friday’s game against Lewiston at the end of the third period.

One extra police officer was assigned to the Bulldogs’ first game since that shortened contest as a precaution, and since the junior varsity team was moving up to varsity status in the wake of the suspensions, a game between the Lawrence and Hampden boys freshman squads served as the preliminary contest.

But once the varsity game began, it was largely basketball as usual – save for the Lawrence lineup.

It didn’t matter for a brief period, as Lawrence jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 3:13 of play on baskets by Dan Fleming and Josh Moody – the lone full-time varsity player available.

But Hampden soon took control by outscoring Lawrence 15-4 in the second quarter to take a 30-15 halftime lead.

Senior guard Brad Haase keyed that run, scoring all nine of his points in the period on two 3-pointers and 3-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line.

“Our starters went in and just tried to handle business so we could get our bench players some time,” Haase said.

Hampden’s frontline players put the game away in the third quarter, with a 10-0 run over the final 4:07 of the period giving the Broncos a 44-18 cushion and leaving the fourth quarter for reserves on both teams.

“If we won by 40, we were supposed to, and if the game was close, then we didn’t bring our best effort and maybe we’re not as good as we think we might be, so it was kind of a no-win situation,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “So we really focused on making sure we competed hard.

“But the game played out the way I wished for it to, we had some guys get some minutes who normally don’t, and I thought in the third quarter our starters and guys who see a lot of minutes played pretty well.”

Senior guard Antonio Juco led the third-ranked Broncos (9-6) with 10 points, while Haase had nine points and seven assists. Nathaniel Burke also scored nine points for Hampden, while Justin Brown scored eight points and Jacob Moore grabbed six rebounds.

But not all was lost for 8-7 Lawrence, which got five points each from Moody, Colby Trask and Corey Lee.

“We were looking to make sure that they played tough defense. The kids can always play defense,” said longtime Lawrence assistant Charlie Jucius, who handled the coaching duties in McGee’s absence. “We did what we could on offense, and we were pretty happy with what we got. That’s a lot of points compared to what we thought we might get.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

BRONCOS 58, BULLDOGS 35

Hampden Acad. (9-6) Lawrence (8-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hersey 0 2 0 0 0 B.Belangr 0 0

Burke 2 3 5 8 9 Moody 2 7 5

Turner 1 1 0 0 2 Karter 0 0 0

White 0 1 2 2 2 Fleming 2 2 4

Evans 2 2 1 1 6 Powers 2 7 4

Moore 2 5 0 1 4 C.Belangr 0 0

Haase 2 4 3 4 9 Trask 2 3 5

Dolan 0 1 0 0 0 Caron 0 1 2

Juco 5 7 0 2 10 Cmmings 0 0 1 1

Burditt 2 6 0 0 4 Lee 2 3 5

Brown 4 5 0 1 8 Letorneu 0 0

Workman 1 2 0 1 2 Sherman 0 0 0

Morey 1 3 0 0 2 Klein 0 3 4

Perry 0 1 0 0 0 Deraps 1 2 2

O’Donnell 0 0 0 0 0 Carey 1 2 3

Totals 22 43 11 20 58 Totals 12 34 16 35

Hampden Acad. 15 30 44 58

Lawrence 9 15 18 35

3-pt. goals – Hampden (3-6): Haase 2-4, Evans 1-1, Juco 0-1; Lawrence (2-8): Carey 1-1, Trask 1-2, Powers 0-1, Caron 0-1, Lee 0-1, Klein 0-2

Freshman: Lawrence 59-50

Attendance: 275 (est.)