BANGOR – There was plenty of frustration to go around Wednesday night at Bangor High School’s Red Barry Gym.

For the Hampden Academy girls, it was a frustrating start to the game after they played a near-perfect first quarter and still only led by three points. For the Bangor girls, it was a frustrating end to a game they played well enough to win.

Two big 3-pointers in the final 91 seconds by freshman Tanna Ross – the last of which proved to be the game-winning shot with 12 seconds left – helped the Hampden Broncos overcome an inspired effort and effective adjustments by Bangor and post a 32-31 victory.

“I don’t think we played well enough in the second half to deserve the victory, but a win’s a win,” said coach Ben Greenlaw, whose Broncos improve to 12-2. “I thought the game was over after Laura Clarke made so many great plays, but it’s good for us to beat a quality team like this and it helps our confidence a lot.”

Clarke was once again Miss Clutch for the Rams as she scored nine of her game-high 12 points in the fourth quarter.

“We did what we wanted to do, pretty much,” said Clarke, whose Rams are also 12-2. “They just moved the ball well enough to get a shot. We didn’t’ get back on defense quickly enough early, but we did that better after the first quarter.”

The Rams also rebounded much better after the first quarter, turning an 11-6 deficit into a 34-27 advantage. They also virtually bottled up Johanna Ghiringhelli, Hampden’s slippery and speedy point guard whose quickness makes her a nightmare matchup.

The exchange student from Pilar, Paraguay, had seven points, six assists, five steals and three rebounds – all but five points, one assist and one steal came in the first half. In the second, Bangor employed 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses to slow the Broncos down.

“It was kind of frustrating. I was in so much trouble with fouls. I just tried not to steal balls and be less aggressive,” said Ghiringelli. “We can do nothing on offense against them because they have a good defense, but we had some amazing shots at the end.”

Ross hit the first of those amazing ones from the right corner with 1:31 left. She canned her second on a pull-up jumper from the left wing with 12 seconds to go.

“I missed the first two I shot and then I just kept shooting,” said Ross, who also grabbed seven rebounds. “I think this definitely boosts our confidence, and it definitely helped me a lot as far as confidence. This was a very important game for us.”

It was a big one for Bangor as well, especially emotionally as JV-assistant basketball coach Jeff Ingalls’ wife Karen died suddenly Tuesday night.

“It was a very emotional day,” head coach Tom Tennett said. “It was a hard day for the kids, but Jeff really wanted us to play this game.”

Serena Dubois paced the Rams with seven points, 12 rebounds and four steals. A last-second shot from near the key by Ilyse Angst bounced off the rim as the Broncos held on.

BRONCOS 32, RAMS 31

Hampden Academy (12-2) Bangor (12-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ghiringhelli 2 10 2 2 7 Ogden 1 2 2

Stephenson 1 5 2 2 4 Angst 1 2 2

Veinote 0 0 0 0 0 Porter 1 6 2

Morris 3 6 0 0 6 Clarke 4 12 12

Ross 4 9 1 2 11 Weymouth 1 12 5

Thompson 0 0 0 0 0 Webb 0 1 0

Beal 2 9 0 0 4 Curtis 0 2 1 1

Ryder 0 1 0 0 0 Dubois 2 10 7

Sullivan 0 0 0

Totals 12 40 5 6 32 10 47 17 31

Hampden 9 15 20 32

Bangor 6 13 20 31

3-pt. goals ? Hampden (3-6): Ross 2-3, Ghiringhelli 1-1, Stephenson 0-2; Bangor (3-6): Clarke 2-2, Weymouth 1-4

Attendance: 400 (est.)

JV: Hampden 60-49