AUGUSTA — The Messalonskee boys basketball team couldn’t have asked for a better time to show the best version of itself on the hardwood.

The No. 3 Eagles (16-4) soundly beat No. 2 Mt. Blue 45-36 in a Class A North semifinal on Wednesday night at the Augusta Civic Center, and the game wasn’t as close as the score may appear.

Dominating on both ends of the floor, Messalonskee held Mt. Blue’s Evans Sterling — one of the top players in the state — to just seven points. Offensively, the Eagles were led by 6-foot-9 junior forward Merrick Smith, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Ryan Parent added 13 points, 12 of which came off long 3-pointers.

“It’s nice to move on (to the regional final), but it’s not states yet,” Parent said after the game.

Messalonskee picked the right time to play one of its best games. The Eagles will face No. 1 Hampden Academy (18-2) in the A North final at 7:45 on Friday night in Augusta. The Eagles last played in a regional final in 2017.

Perhaps no one is playing better down the stretch and into the playoffs than the Eagles.

Since a 55-52 loss to Nokomis on Jan. 11, Messalonskee has won nine straight games.

“If you had told me when the season started who would be in this game, I would have told you it’s who is (now) in the game,” Hampden Academy head coach Russ Bartlett said. “I think these were the two best teams to start, and now they’re the two best teams to finish.

“I think (Messalonskee is) playing their best basketball right now. They’re one hardest teams in the league to guard, that’s mainly because of Merrick. You have to pay a lot of attention to him and they surround him with great shooting. It’s a perfect storm, defensively, of what you’re trying to take away.”

The Messalonskee-Hampden matchup is intriguing. Messalonskee finished the regular season second in scoring in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A at 60.5 points per game. The Eagles were allowing 50.1 points a game, good for third best in KVAC A.

Hampden, meanwhile, finished second in scoring (61.8 ppg) and second in defense (49.4 ppg). The teams split their regular season meetings, with Hampden winning 64-54 on Jan. 5 and Messalonskee prevailing  72-39 victory in Oakland on Feb. 1.

Messalonskee struggled early in the season, going 7-4 in its first 11 games.

“We went through some adversity early on in terms of losses and things not going our way in games, but we watched a lot of film, and we learned from it,” Messalonskee coach Sam Smith said. “Like they say, you want to be playing your best basketball at the right time, and we’re doing that. It’s all credit to the boys because they’ve tightened up the things we need to get better at.”

“(The key is) team chemistry,” Parent added. “It’s good on the court, but we’re just as good of friends off the court and that helps us play better.”

Smith is second in the KVAC in scoring (25.6 ppg) and leads the conference in rebounds (14.4 rpg) and blocks (3.8). Junior guard Drake Brunelle leads the KVAC in assists (7.1 apg). The pieces have fallen in place for the Eagles to find success.

“It’s mostly just figuring each other out because it takes time to develop a new system especially when you have a new coach,” Smith said. “For us, this is our fourth coach in three years, so we had a period of having to get used to each other, but now that we’re at this point (of the season), we’ve done that.”

Messalonskee will need another standout effort to beat Hampden Academy.

Junior guard Zach McLaughlin (23.2 ppg) is fourth in the KVAC in scoring. In the Broncos’ victory over Camden Hills in an A North semifinal on Wednesday night, three different Hampden players scored 15 points or more. McLaughlin finished with 15, while sophomore Liam Henaghen scored 19 points, and junior forward JJ Wolfington added 18 points and eight rebounds.

“We have two really good senior leaders (in the starting five),” Bartlett said after the game. “The other three have been able to carry that little extra load, like Liam did (against Camden Hills). The other night, Sawyer (Worcester) did. It’s not always the same guy, but they’ve found opportunities. Liam did a great job finishing (Wednesday night), he was in the right spot at the right time, we looked down the court, and he did a great job putting the ball in the basket.”

Both Parent and Smith said the Eagles will face their biggest test of the season on Friday night.

“Hampden’s got two really strong players and some role players,” Parent said. “We’ll see how it goes (in the regional final).”

“With Zach McLaughlin, they’re always dangerous, so it’s going to be a tough matchup,” Smith added. “We’ll have to prepare, and hopefully, we can play our best game.”

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