Hampden Academy takes two in varsity doubleheader at Brewer

BREWER — The Brewer basketball program, boys and girls varsity, hosted Hampden Academy Friday night with the Broncos traveling home with a pair of wins under their belts. The girls' game was a 47-37 win for Hampden while the boys game was 68-56 in Hampden's favor.

Hampden's Emma Haskell (11) gets a hand on the ball to partially block the shot from Brewer's Kenzie Dore. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Click here for the photo gallery from the Girls game
Click here for the photo gallery from the Boys game

The gym was packed for both games with each school having a loud and proud student section. The Brewer band that played was amazing. They were so good I found myself wanting to just sit down and listen to them for a while.

GIRLS GAME
The Broncos came out strong taking a 7-0 lead to start the game. However, before they knew it Brewer was up 10-9 as they went on a 10-2 run. The Witches tied the score once more, but Hampden led the rest of the game. Hampden took an 11-10 first-quarter lead and held a 26-15 advantage at the halftime. After three-quarters Hampden was up 38-25 over the Witches and cruised through the final stanza for the win.

Scoring for Hampden was, Emma Haskell, Amilia McLaughlin, and Alydia Brillant led the way with 10 points each. Megan Deans added seven; and Bella Soucy and Sydney Hodgdon five each.

The Broncos were 6-of-26 (38 percent) from the foul line. They nailed three 3-pointers, two from Haskell and one from Soucy.

For Brewer, Brooke Merrow led all scorers with 11 points; Kenzie Dore, nine; Janessa Bishop, five; Kathryn Austin, four; Grace Robertson and Riley Umel, three each; and Sarah Kiley, two.

The Witches were 4-of-9 (44 percent) from the charity stripe. Thay knocked down five 3-point baskets, two from Dore, and one each from Robertson, Merrow, and Umel.

The advantage that Hampden had and used wisely to their ability to not give Brewer many chances as they dominated the boards, especially the defensive boards.

Hampden goes to 3-0 with the win while Brewer falls to 0-3.  The Broncos will travel again Monday, Dec. 16 when they load the bus for Augusta and Cony High School.  The Witches will host Messalonskee Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. with the JV game starting at 5 p.m.

HAMPDEN----11---15---12---09---47
BREWER------10---05---10---12---37

BOYS GAME
The Brewer gym was electric when the Broncos and Witches varsity boys took the court. Both teams were 2-0 and had defeated the same teams to get there. In the end, it was the Bryce Lausier show as the Broncos lanky guard walked off the floor with 40 points in a Hampden Academy 63-56 win over the Witches.

Hampden's Bryce Lausier finishes a dunk early in the game on Friday night. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Hampden took a 21-6 first-quarter lead that had most thinking this was going to be a blowout. When the halftime arrived the Broncos were up 41-19. Lausier had 26 of Hampden's points in the first half.
A different team showed up in the second half for Brewer as the defense came to life allowing Brewer to outscore Hampden in the third and fourth quarters to cut a 22-point deficit to just a seven-point loss before it was over.

The Witches double-teamed Lausier the entire second half and it paid off as he had two field goals and scored 10 from the foul line.

Besides Lausier's 40 points the other scorers for Hampden were, Brayden Cole, nine; T.J. Henaghen, eight; Mikey Raye, seven; and Andy Raye and Travis Czapiga, two each.

Hampden was 15-of-24 (63 percent) from the foul line and they had nine 3-point baskets. Lausier nailed six of them, M. Raye two, and Cole one.

For Brewer, Trevor Pearson had a team-high 20 points; Aaron Newcomb, 11; Kyle Goodrich, nine; Ryder Goodwin, eight; Brady Saunders, six; and Colby Smith, two.

The Witches were 10-of-14 (71 percent) from behind the line. They knocked down four from behind the arc, one each from, Goodrich, Newcomb, Saunders, and Goodwin.

The big hurt for Brewer in this game was missing one of their top players in Dylan Huff who was out with a sprained ankle. Huff, who was picked recently as one of 10 players in the North to watch, is an offensive player that could have made a big difference in this game. But in his absence, the rest of the team stepped up, figured out how to play without him and outscored the Broncos 37-27. Many of those points coming off forced turnovers and a better rebounding effort.

Lausier was outstanding for the Broncos in the first-half from everywhere on the court except the foul line as he never took a foul shot. In the second half, he had his two field goals and was 10-of-13 from the foul line. Many of Lausier's points came off assists from Mikey Raye, who seemed to be able to find Lausier at will when he was open. The two make a dangerous combination.

Hampden goes to 3-0 while Brewer falls to 2-1.

HAMPDEN----21---20---15---12---68
BREWER------06---13---18---19---56