Joshua McNutt scores 18 points as Hampden drops EL.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

AUBURN – Hampden Academy coach Russ Bartlett didn’t bother to tell his team before Thursday night’s game with Edward Little that the Red Eddies would be taking the court without their best player.

The way Bartlett’s Broncos went about their business last night, it may not have made a difference.

Hampden used a 15-0 second quarter run to pull away, then held on for a 56-47 win.

Joshua McNutt led a balanced Bronco attack with 18 points. Jordan Cook added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Ryan Ford had 14 points and 10 boards, while Jamie White added 10 points for the Eddies, who were playing without Kenny Poulin. The senior center suffered a left shoulder injury in Tuesday’s loss to Medomak Valley.

“Poulin’s a very good player, and we had prepared for him, but I never even told the kids that he didn’t play tonight,” Bartlett said. “I don’t know that they even noticed.”

“Kenny is 90 percent of our offense. Not that he scores 90 percent of our points, but he makes it easier for everyone else because there’s so much attention to stopping him,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “We lost him Tuesday, so we had one day to practice without him and get used to it, and we went out in the first half and it was just ugly. We couldn’t get anything going. In the second half, we started to find our identity a little better.”

Hampden (6-7) entered the second quarter with an 11-10 lead, then busted the game open with 15 straight points.

Making things worse for the Eddies (2-10) besides losing their best inside threat was the presence of the 6-foot-9 Cook, who altered countless shots along with the seven he blocked. He was partially responsible for the Eddies missing their first six shots of the quarter before Ford finally hit a foul-line jumper with 3:10 left in the half. EL shot just 29 percent for the game.

“He allows us to do some different things defensively where we can pressure people and make them put the ball on the floor,” Bartlett said. “It puts a little pressure on him foul-wise, as you could see tonight, but for the most part he does a good job avoiding contact. Defensively, he makes a difference on all five guys on the floor.”

Hampden took a 16-point lead into the intermission and widened the margin to as much as 21 in the third quarter. But the Eddies bounced back to within 12 on buckets by White and Darin Meyers (seven points, six rebounds) before the end of the third.

“The kids kept battling and kept working,” Adams said. “For a 2-10 team, it would be real easy to pack it in, but the kids kept coming after them.”

“That was typical of our young team,” said Bartlett, who has no seniors on his roster. “Fouling and (not) blocking out killed us. We have the game well in hand and then we just lose our focus for a little while.”

EL seemed to get a boost early in the fourth when Cook went to the bench with his fourth foul. Instead, Hampden built its cushion back up to 19 with 4:50 left.

Led by Kyle Giguere (nine points, all in the second half), the Eddies made one last run, pulling within seven on a White 3-pointer with 2:06 left. McNutt sealed the win, though, by making four-of-four from the charity stripe in the final minute.