AUGUSTA, Maine – Hampden Academy girls basketball coach Nick Winchester figured Wednesday’s Class A North semifinal game against Cony High School would come down to free throws, which is why the Broncos focused on foul shots in practice this week.
Their focus paid off.
Hampden sophomore guard Aubrey Shaw calmly sank four free throws in the final 36 seconds of the game and classmate Katelyn Adams hit one of two with 1.6 seconds to play, enabling the third-seeded Broncos to hang on for a 42-38 win over the second-seeded Rams in a defensive battle at the Augusta Civic Center.
The win propelled Hampden (15-5) into Friday’s regional final against the winner of No. 1 Lawrence of Fairfield and No. 4 Camden Hills. Cony finished with a 16-4 record.
“I knew I needed to make those for my team so I just focused on my routine and tried not to put too much stress on myself,” Shaw said after the win, describing her thoughts at the foul line with the game on the line. She finished with a team-high 13 points.
Cony pulled within 37-35 on an inside bucket by senior forward Abby Morrill after being held scoreless for the first 6:27 of the fourth quarter thanks to Hampden’s hustling mix of 2-3 zone and player-to-player defense. Morrill ended up with a game-high 16 points.
The Rams went to their fullcourt press, fouling Shaw, who made both free throws to make it 39-35. After a flurry of Cony misses, the Broncos came away with the ball and called time out with 10.6 seconds to play. After the inbounds play, Shaw drew another foul and made both shots again.
Cony’s Morgan Fichthorne hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with four seconds to play cutting Hampden’s lead to 41-38. The Rams called time out and pressed and fouled again, sending Adams to the line who hit the first one to ice it for the Broncos with 1.6 seconds left.
“To hold them in the 30s is a defensive effort that we couldn’t have drawn up any better,” Winchester said, crediting the strong inside presence of 6-foot-4 Hampden junior forward Grace LaBree with keeping Cony from scoring consistently in the paint.
LaBree, who didn’t play in Hampden’s regular season 58-40 loss to Cony, scored 12 points on a variety of low-post moves.
“I knew she was going to give us trouble,” said Cony coach John Dennett, talking about LaBree’s effort after the loss. “We knew she was going to get her 15 or 16 points in the paint. We were hoping they would miss some shots. But hey, they came up big tonight and we didn’t.”
