By Mike Corrado, Special to the BDN
The top-seeded Hampden Broncos took down the No. 8 Skowhegan River Hawks 64-58 in a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday night. The Broncos now advance to play the Camden-Hills Windjammers at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21.
Senior guard Zach McLaughlin returned from a brief absence with an injury and was the catalyst for Hampden, netting 17 first-half points and 40 overall. Senior big man JJ Wolfington was able to match McLaughlin’s output from beyond the arc as both hit 3 threes to extend the Broncos lead to 32-21 at halftime.
“Felt great, first time playing out on this court since I was in fifth grade, and the whole step of the way I was just ready”, McLaughlin said postgame.
While Skowhegan’s sophomore guard Adam Fitzgerald’s barrage of threes was good for 27 points and senior forward Ryan Donoghue’s 16 points kept things close, Hampden never let the River Hawks take the lead in the second half.
Sophomore guard Sawyer Worcester kept things moving in the second half for head coach Russ Bartlett’s squad, firing home two quick three-pointers in the opening minutes of the third quarter. McLaughlin would stay hot as well, scoring six of his own points in the third and creating numerous chances for his teammates.
When asked if he had been prepared for a scoring outburst like this McLaughlin responded, “You know, my teammates and my coaches have told me to let the game come to me and I thought I did that tonight. Everything was kinda falling and I just kinda went with it.”
That level of production followed suit into the fourth quarter, as his tenacious offensive style saw him score 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, failing to miss a single free throw down the stretch and securing a victory for the Broncos. The star man hit 40 on his final free throw attempt of the night, putting a bow on what was nearly a chaotic fourth quarter.
Looking ahead to his team’s game against Camden Hills on Wednesday, McLaughlin seemed ready for the challenge.
“I’m confident, I think all of our boys are ready, and it’s definitely gonna be a good game. Camden Hills is a great team with a lot of versatility, so we gotta come out and bring our best game.”
