Hampden Boys upend Bangor 65 - 52

Graham Safford helped the Broncos to a big win (Photo Michael York/BDN)

Graham Safford lead all scores with 28, Christian McCue tipped in 15, and the Hampden Broncos used stifling defense to beat the Bangor Rams 65-52 in a big early season battle.

The Hampden Acadamy crowd came ready to cheer it's team on Saturday full well knowing how important opening day was this year. Bangor and Hampden appear poised to battle all season long for top spot in the Eastern Class A.

It was evident from the start that the Broncos were not going to make life easy for the Rams. Hamden, with contributions from the senior Safford and senior Gabe Burditt, jumped out to a 9 - 0 lead on Coach Roger Reed's Rams, en-route to a 20 - 9 1st quarter lead. Complete team defense started on the perimeter with Safford and McCue, who did an excellent job not allowing clear passing lanes for any of the Bangor ball handlers.

Working under the hoop proved no easier when the Rams tried going low to senior star Josiah Harley, Rams points leader with 19. A Broncos combo of junior Fred Knight, Burditt and junior Logan Poirier bounced Hartley, and anyone else that got in the paint, around all night.

Hampden played a complete team game in the 1st half, allowing only 8 of Bangor's 18 halftime points from the floor. Bangor players such as seniors Tristan Thomas (10 points) and Zach Blodgett were visibly frustrated by the confusion Hamden's defense was causing.

Hampden lead at halftime 31 - 18.

The Rams are a very tough mental team, and showed it in the 2nd half, fighting back and not quitting. Shots finally started to fall for guys like senior Luke Hetterman. Hetterman scored all of his 8 points in the final frame, finishing with 8.

Ultimately, the Broncos defense would allow the Rams no closer than 11 in the 2nd half, finishing off the 65 - 52 win Saturday.

You can listen to the replay of this game Presented by the Law Offices of Carl D McCue at MBR Radio.com