OAKLAND — Winner of five consecutive regional titles and the defending Class A state champion, the Hampden Academy boys basketball team went to Messalonskee on Tuesday night and showed that they’re still the gold standard in Class A North.

Hampden jumped out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter, held off a Messalonskee rally in the third and pulled away for the 51-36 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win.

“Whenever we had runs, they hit big baskets. That’s what great teams do. I just talked to my team and I told them ‘That’s the measuring stick,'” Messalonskee coach Peter McLaughlin said.

The Eagles trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half but cut Hampden’s lead to 40-33 at the end of the third quarter. From there, Messalonskee went cold, scoring just three points in the fourth quarter, and going scoreless over the final 6:06 of the game.

“You put three points on the board in the fourth quarter, you’re going to be in trouble,” McLaughlin said.

Hampden coach Russ Bartlett praised his team’s defensive effort, particularly the work of Conary Moore defending Messalonskee big man James Lathrop, who was held to six points.

“I was real happy with our defense. We went into the game and we challenged Conary to guard Lathrop. I thought he did a great job,” Bartlett said.

Hampden’s lead was 15 points, 36-21, midway through the third quarter when Messalonskee rallied. A Taylor Turner (10 points) 3-pointer sparked a 12-4 run for the Eagles.

“They came up with a couple loose balls that we were late to, that they outhustled us for. I think they scored eight points on hustle plays that we didn’t make in that third quarter and that made a big difference. They simply out-worked us,” Bartlett said.

The Broncos led 44-36 when Jake Black hit a 3-pointer with 5:55 left. While it was the final field goal of the game for Hampden, the Broncos hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Messalonskee also played strong defense throughout the game. The Eagles held star Hampden guard Nick Gilpin to 11 points, and forced the senior into three player control fouls.

“We took away (Gilpin’s) seams. We took three charges on him. I thought we had some great help side (defense),” McLaughlin said. “They hit contested shots.”

Added Bartlett: “We took some quick shots tonight that I think come tournament times, are shots you don’t need to take. Those are shots that come back to bite you. I thought we did a pretty good job on the glass, not great, and Messalonskee really battled tonight.”

Ian McIntyre had seven points and nine rebounds for the Broncos. Nate Violette led Messalonskee with 12 points and Lathrop had 10 boards.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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