The No. 1 Hampden Academy boys basketball team dispatched No. 5 Camden Hills 64-48 in Wednesday night’s Class A North regional semifinal game at the Augusta Civic Center, punching their ticket to the regional final for the first time since their title-winning season in 2019-20.
The underdog Windjammers kept it within five points through three quarters but never managed to take a lead, finally losing grip of the game early in the fourth quarter. The Broncos outscored Camden 20-9 in the final frame, patiently carving up the Windjammers’ full court press with ease.
Hampden faced Camden’s high energy press virtually all night, but wasn’t able to efficiently score in transition until the second half, recording 10 of their 15 overall assists after halftime. In the early going, the Broncos instead relied on their half court offense to generate scoring opportunities, with all-Conference seniors Zach McLaughlin and JJ Wolfington combining for 21 points before the break.
“We were quick to look laterally rather than down the floor, and as soon as we looked down the floor in the fourth quarter, we shot layups,” 21-year Hampden head coach Russ Bartlett said.
“We played a little sloppy tonight, but we did a good enough job to move on. We have two really good senior leaders who hadn’t played on this floor, but know what it takes to win.”
McLaughlin finished with 15 points, two offensive rebounds, an assist and two steals, while Wolfington racked up 16 points, 11 rebounds (three offensive) and five assists.
In the second half, it was sophomore forward Liam Henaghen and junior guard Aiden Kochendoerfer who provided most of the scoring for the Broncos, combining for 20 points in the final two quarters, largely coming off bomb passes from Wolfington and company in transition.
Henaghen finished with a game-high 19 points, plus four assists, three offensive rebounds and a block. Kochendoerfer added nine points, four assists and four rebounds, and starting sophomore point guard Sawyer Worcester contributed three more points, an assist and a charge drawn.
“Liam, Aiden and Sawyer have all figured out what their roles [are], and what they can do to help us — they have a lot of responsibility,” Bartlett said. “Liam did a great job finishing in transition tonight, meanwhile we ask him to guard probably the [opponent’s] best player every night. Sawyer did a great job, and Aiden was really steady tonight.”
Similar to Hampden, the Windjammers derived their scoring from a bunch of different contributors, including senior guard Will Duke (18 points, two assists, two steals), sophomore guard Nolan Ames (10 points, two offensive rebounds) and senior forward Franklin Coffey (nine points, two steals).
Senior forward Miles Spear added five points and three rebounds for Camden, and senior guard Hunter Bell tacked on another four points.
The Windjammers finished their season 11-9, while the Broncos improved to 18-2, including a three-game sweep of Camden Hills. Next up, the Broncos will play 6-foot-10 junior Merrick Smith and his No. 3 Messalonskee Eagles in the Class A regional final at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.
“This is huge to be here. This is what we grew up watching — all those Hampden teams came to this game right here,” McLaughlin said. “It’s our turn.”
Hampden split the season series with Messalonskee, but lost the second of their two meetings by 33 points on the road. Due to a foot injury, McLaughlin didn’t play in the loss, but regardless the Eagles put the Broncos on notice.
“We’ll have to play really well to beat Messalonskee; they’re the hardest team in our league to guard,” Bartlett said. “We’ve worked hard night in, and night out, and we get to see what we can do Friday night.”
