HAMPDEN, Maine — The Hampden Academy Bronco girls basketball team limited the cold-shooting Bangor High Rams to one basket during a 10-minute stretch in the second half and then withstood a furious late Rams rally to post a 39-37 victory at the Hampden Academy Gym on Tuesday night.
The Broncos completed a two-game sweep of their local rivals and improved to 12-5 with their eighth win over their last nine contests.
Hampden had beaten Bangor 37-26 earlier this season at the Red Barry Gym in Bangor.
The Class A North Broncos are locked into the third spot in the Heal Points standings and will finish the regular season at Rockland against Oceanside on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The AA North Rams fell to 11-6 after having their three-game winning streak snapped.
HA’s earlier victory also ended a Bangor three-game winning streak.
The Rams conclude their season at Brewer on Thursday at 6:30 and they can sew up fourth place in the Heal Points standings and a home court berth for the quarterfinals with a victory.
The Broncos had seemingly sewed up the win when sophomore guard Eve Wiles sank a pair of free throws with 3:46 remaining to make it 38-31.
But junior guard Dalaney Horr, who had missed the earlier game against Hampden Academy due to illness, hit a foul line jumper with just over two minutes to go to pull Bangor within 38-33 and then Gabby Roy scored off an offensive rebound to make it a three-point game with 1:58 remaining.
HA’s Aubrey Shaw missed two free throws and Bangor’s Ayzlynn Gifford fed Horr for a basket with just over a minute remaining to make it 38-37.
The Rams fouled Caitlin Murphy and she missed both foul shots with 23.4 seconds left and Bangor’s Avery Clark got the rebound.
Bangor’s Emily Adams was fouled driving to the basket with 2.1 seconds left but she missed both free throws and Hampden hung on.
Shaw added the game’s final point with a free throw.
“We treated this as a tournament game,” said HA coach Nick Winchester. “It wasn’t pretty and there are some things we have to work on but the most important thing was we came out with a win and that’s something we really needed.”
The Broncos’ 2-3 zone, which had held Bangor to a 5-for-34 shooting performance over the first three quarters of the previous matchup which enabled the Broncos to build a 21-point lead, was again effective as Bangor went 14-for-50 from the floor on Tuesday.
“We really locked in on defense,” said Wiles.
“Bangor did some real good stuff against the zone that they didn’t do last time. Having Dalaney (Horr) back helps quite a bit,” said Winchester.
The Broncos closed out the third period with an 8-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a 29-26 lead that they would never relinquish.
Six-foot-four forward Grace LaBree had a pair of baskets in the paint for HA during the run.
LaBree scored inside again off a Katelyn Adams pass to make it a five-point lead to open the fourth quarter before Bangor went on a 5-2 run to close the gap to two. Horr had three of the points.
Murphy answered with a turnaround jump shot and Wiles made three of four free throws to make it 38-31 with 3:46 remaining before Bangor made its comeback bid.
“I had to put (the free throws) in somehow,” said Wiles.
“It was a competitive game all the way around,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “Two good teams battled it out. Kudos to that type of atmosphere and that type of game. It will make both teams better as they gear up for the tournaments.
“We had opportunities but they just didn’t fall for us,” said Kemble, whose team outrebounded Hampden Academy 35-24 including a 13-4 edge in offensive rebounds.
Bangor also forced numerous turnovers with its full-court press.
LaBree, a junior, and sophomore guard Shaw paced Hampden Academy with 10 points apiece. Shaw had nine rebounds and LaBree had seven. LaBree also blocked three shots.
Sophomore guard Adams produced six points, three rebounds and two assists and Wiles had five points and four rebounds.
Freshman guard Mallory Lausier came off the bench and contributed five points for the Broncos, who shot 15-for-34 from the floor.
Horr led all scorers with 11 points. She also hauled down six rebounds.
Senior guard Gifford had nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals and junior guard Avery Clark chipped in with seven points, a game-high 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Senior guard-forward Adams had four points, seven rebounds and four steals and junior guard Clara Oldenburg had four points and three rebounds.
