AUGUSTA, Maine — Purple does indeed reign in Class A North basketball.
While Hampden Academy’s girls basketball team scored a dramatic overtime victory to claim its first regional crown since 2011 in the first game of Friday night’s championship doubleheader at the Augusta Civic Center, there was no such drama in the boys final.
Kory Winch scored 14 points and Ian McIntyre added 11 and top-ranked Hampden allowed just seven field goals as the Broncos rolled to a 43-21 victory over Medomak Valley of Waldoboro.
“I think it’s special that we can go (to the state finals) with them (the girls),” said Winch, who scored 10 points in the third quarter as coach Russ Bartlett’s club expanded a seven-point halftime lead to a 33-16 cushion entering the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been supporting each other through this whole thing and now to take that next step is I think a big moment for our community.”
Tommy Raye added nine points for Hampden, now 20-1 this winter and 18-0 against Class A competition.
“We knew from the start that it was going to be a slow-paced game, and that it was going to be a grind-it-out style because that’s how they like to play,” said Winch. “We just tried to move the ball real quick, get it in the paint, get any easy touches we could and try to get open shots.”
The Broncos will face the winner of Saturday night’s Class A South final between top-ranked and undefeated Greely of Cumberland Center (20-0) and No. 3 Westbrook (14-6) for the state championship next Thursday night at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Sixth-ranked Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, which defeated No. 3 Skowhegan and No. 2 Nokomis of Newport on its way to the final, ends its season at 13-8.
“I’m very happy and proud of the kids, tonight was just a different animal,” said Medomak Valley coach Nick DePatsy. “That was a veteran team, and you’ve got to credit their defense.
“I’m happy with the fact we kept the game in the 40s. We just struggled scoring.”
Nate Emerson opened the game with a 3-pointer to give Medomak Valley a 3-0 lead, but the Panthers didn’t score again for 8 minutes and 49 seconds — time enough for Hampden to score 14 straight points and take full control.
Tommy Raye buried a 3-pointer to tie the game, then Winch made two free throws and a runner from the lane to give the Broncos the lead for good.
A fast-break layup by Bryce Lausier made it 9-3 before McIntyre closed out the quarter with a three-point play and a layup off a Johnny Wolfington feed to extend the Hampden lead to 14-3.
Medomak Valley, which lost to Hampden 45-31 in their lone regular-season meeting, rallied to within 18-12 on a 3-pointer by freshman Ethan Reed late in the second quarter before McIntyre closed out the half by making 1 of 2 from the line to give Hampden a 19-12 intermission lead.
Winch fed McIntyre for a layup to open the third quarter and followed with the first of his two 3-pointers in the period to extend the Broncos’ lead to 24-12 — and as it turned out they already had enough points to win.
“You’ve got to credit their defense,” said DePatsy. “They kept us off balance. We couldn’t get any room to get shots off. Inside they were big and strong. It’s a credit to them.”
