AUGUSTA — Mt. Blue almost completed the biggest comeback of the Eastern Class A boys’ basketball tournament, but Brian Fickett’s layup with three seconds left enabled Hampden Academy to hold on for a 46-44 win in the regional final Friday night at the Augusta Civic Center.
Hampden (20-1) will play in the state championship game at 7 p.m. next Saturday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. It’s Hampden’s first regional title since 2006.
Mt. Blue ends the season at 16-5.
Fickett’s winning bucket came off a pass from the baseline, after Mt. Blue had erased a double-digit deficit in about five minutes.
Down 42-30, Mt. Blue rallied to tie the game at 44-44 when Cam Sennick hit a free throw with 30 seconds left.
After Fickett’s layup, the Cougars called a timeout to set up their inbounds play with 3.4 seconds left, but Blake Hart’s full-court pass went out of bounds. After Fickett missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2.2 seconds left, Nick Hilton’s half-court shot was wide right of the rim, setting off a Hampden celebration.
The Broncos played the final 2:48 without star guard Christian McCue (14 points), who fouled out on a charge.
Hampden controlled the boards throughout the game, outrebounding Mt. Blue 38-19. Logan Poirier had 11 rebounds for the Broncos.
Hampden never trailed. The Broncos scored the first eight points and led 15-6 after one quarter.
A Matt Palmer basket pushed Hampden’s lead to 17-6 early in the second quarter before the Cougars mounted a small rally. Sennick’s layup with just under three minutes to play cut Hampden’s lead to 19-16.
The Broncos closed the first half with a 6-0 run and led 25-16.
Sennick and guard Eric Berry each had 14 points for Mt. Blue.
Travis Lazarczyk – 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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