Hampden Academy made sure it wouldn’t need a miracle shot to finish a perfect season.

Zach Gilpin scored 23 points and gave the unbeaten Broncos just enough breathing room to hold off South Portland, 45-41, in the Class A boys’ basketball state championship at the Augusta Civic Center.

The title is Hampden Academy’s second and its first since 2005.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s everything we’ve ever wanted since we were little,” said senior forward Tyler Norris, who made two key plays down the stretch. “We’ve been talking about this for such a long time and it’s so unreal that we finally have it.”

The Broncos (22-0), who got to the final on Nick Gilpin’s 30-foot buzzer-beater to shock Lawrence in the Eastern A final, couldn’t wait for time to run out Saturday night.

Tanner Hyland drilled a 3-pointer to make it 42-41 Broncos with 2:43 left. It would be the last time the Riots would see the ball for more than two minutes, as Hampden worked the ball around the perimeter to burn the clock before Norris’ drive-and-dish to Brian Fickett (10 points) gave them a three-point lead.

“It was key to not be in a hurry,” Hampden Academy coach Russ Bartlett said. “We’d worked on slowing the ball down late in games, and I was very happy with our execution in that possession. Then we just had to get a rebound, and we did.”

Hyland missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it. Matt Palmer missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Norris collected the rebound, got fouled, and made one of two at the line to make it a two-possession game.

“We had Brian start because of their size, and we had Tyler step into the sixth-man role. I thought it was a very unselfish move,” Bartlett said. “Tyler made two huge plays for us late when we needed him to, and I thought Brian was a warrior.”

Hyland again missed a 3-pointer. Trevor Borelli rebounded for South Portland but lost the ball out of bounds with six seconds left and Hampden was able to dribble out the clock.

The Broncos got off to a 10-2 start and never trailed. They led by eight early in the third quarter, but Hyland, who scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, warmed up for the Red Riots to lead them on a 13-6 run that pulled them within 31-30 late in the period.

South Portland (18-4) kept Hampden within four points the rest of the way but never got over the hump.

John Tolan added 10 points for South Portland.