HAMPDEN, Maine — Tournament time is approaching, and it looks like the defending Class A North champion Hampden Academy Broncos are rounding into postseason form.
Senior guard Kory Winch scored 26 points and keyed a stifling Hampden Academy defense as the Broncos routed Mt. Blue of Farmington 70-45 in a clash of Class A North boys basketball powers Thursday night.
The win avenges a 73-72 loss to the Cougars on Dec. 28 and improves coach Russ Bartlett’s club to 13-3. Mt. Blue dips to 10-5.
Hampden, ranked second in A North entering the contest, led by as many as 34 points before coasting home with the victory over third-ranked Mt. Blue.
Winch not only matched the 26 points he scored in Hampden’s 87-64 victory at Medomak Valley of Waldoboro on Tuesday but also amassed seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.
“The past couple of games have probably been our best basketball and tonight was probably the first time we’ve put together 32 good minutes on both ends,” said Winch.
Winch’s biggest contribution may have been on defense where he held the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s leading Class A scorer, Mt. Blue senior guard James Anderson, without a point on 0-for-8 shooting before Anderson left the game two minutes into the second half with an ankle injury.
Anderson scored 23 points against Hampden in their earlier meeting.
“My goal today was to just stay connected to him without fouling, which is very hard because he’s so athletic,” said Winch. “My goal was to limit his touches and keep him from scoring and helping his team out.“
Senior center Kent Oliver added 11 points for Hampden while junior guard Bryce Lausier finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists. Mikey Raye, a junior forward, scored nine points and played solid defense against Mt. Blue guard Garrett Reynolds while Andy Raye, a sophomore guard, came off the bench to score eight points.
Reynolds paced Mt. Blue with 15 points while Jacob Farnham scored nine.
“I felt like we defended really well and pretty consistently tonight,” said Bartlett. “Kory and Mikey both had tough jobs and I thought they both did it well.”
Hampden never let Mt. Blue get untracked offensively en route to a 39-20 halftime cushion, and complemented its defense with some pinpoint passing, earning assists on eight of its 13 first-half field goals.
Oliver was one of the key beneficiaries, scoring four quick points as Hampden grabbed a 6-0 lead 90 seconds into the contest and making all five of his first-half shots from the paint.
“When our perimeter guys drive he moves great without the ball and he’s always ready for the pass,” said Winch. “He had a couple of huge buckets to get us started tonight and brought the energy to us.”
Winch complemented his early defensive work against Anderson with 10 first-half points for Hampden while Mikey Raye scored nine as the Broncos built their 19-point advantage by intermission despite making just 2 of 11 3-point attempts.
“I was real happy with our performance,” said Bartlett. “I told the kids that our job as coaches is to prepare and we had done the preparation piece and it was their job to execute. I thought in the first half we couldn’t have executed better.”
