With school out of session in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Hampden Academy and Bangor boys’ basketball teams faced off in Bangor at noon on Monday, as the Broncos cruised past the Rams, 68-43.
Beginning with a Josh Grunkemeyer 3-pointer just seconds into the game, underdog Bangor made things interesting in the early going, before the Broncos locked down on defense in the second quarter and took a 41-22 lead at halftime.
With the win, Hampden Academy improved to 8-1, while Bangor fell to 1-10. It was Hampden’s seventh consecutive victory, and Bangor’s second consecutive loss.
“They came out pretty hot on offense, and we just needed a second to get into our groove,” Hampden senior guard and all-conference first-teamer Zach McLaughlin said. “I’m not the biggest morning person, but the team came ready and we had great energy in warmups. We just needed to see a couple shots fall and sit down on defense.”
Led by senior forward Ryan Ford and sophomore Grunkemeyer in the first quarter, Bangor hit a buzzer-beating layup to end the frame and trailed by just two, 18-16. But Hampden limited the Rams to just six more points in the next eight minutes, while scoring 23 of their own.
McLaughlin led all scorers with 26 points, followed by Hampden senior forward JJ Wolfington (18 points) and Ryan Ford (10 points). Hampden combined to make eight 3-pointers, including three from McLaughlin and two from sophomore point guard Sawyer Worcester (eight points). Bangor made four 3-pointers, including three from Grunkemeyer (nine points).
“We have a lot of guys that contribute on the defensive end, as well as the offensive end,” McLaughlin said. “We’re really long, and got guys that want to get on the floor and work hard.”
On the Bangor side, Ford lamented the Rams’ shot selection in the second quarter.
“We thought we were ready as a team. The energy was up and we weren’t turning the ball over.” Ford said. “But we started rushing the ball; not taking our time. We had a rough time setting up our halfcourt offense. But it’s a step in the right direction.”
Moving forward, Hampden will play three straight home games, including Wednesday versus Nokomis (7-4) at 7 p.m., and Saturday versus Bangor at 1 p.m. Bangor’s next game will be Saturday’s rematch with Hampden, and its final home game of the season will be against Lewiston on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m.