AUGUSTA — Hampden Academy took charge early with its 3-point shooting, then put Portland away with its inside scoring Saturday night to win the Class A boys’ basketball state championship with an impressive 70-50 victory at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Broncos (20-3) avenged their 54-40 loss to Portland in last year’s state final.

Photo Gallery

Brendan McIntyre led Hampden Academy with 22 points. Nick Gilpin had 17.

“We couldn’t get a defensive stop when we needed one,” said Portland Coach Joe Russo. “When we extended our defense, they went inside. When we sagged, Hampden would hit a 3-pointer.

“Hampden did a good job handling our defenses. It always hurts when you lose the state final because we know what it feels like to win one.”

The Broncos made four 3-pointers in the first quarter, all from the corner. McIntyre opened the game with a 3-pointer, then added another as Hampden began to take charge.

Jake Black then got into the act for the Broncos with back-to-back 3s to make it 16-6. Hampden led 18-11 after one quarter.

The Broncos added only two more 3-pointers, but the tone was set. Hampden started to work some great inside combinations for baskets.

McIntyre and his freshman brother, Ian, ate Portland up inside. Brendan scored 12 points in the second half and his brother finished with 10 – eight in the second half.

Gilpin scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. He was 9 of 10 from the line.

The Bulldogs (19-3) kept competing and trailed 27-21 at halftime. But the Broncos outscored the Bulldogs 19-15 in the third quarter and 24-14 in the fourth.

Last year the Bulldogs took a 22-5 lead in the first quarter as their press caused Hampden havoc. This time the Broncos didn’t have any problems with the press and got the ball in good scoring spots.

“Obviously, we feel a lot more comfortable playing at the Augusta Civic Center,” said Hampden Coach Russ Bartlett. “We were able to get the ball inside and the McIntyres had outstanding games. We handled the ball and didn’t let Portland turn us over.”

Leading 46-36 after three quarters, Hampden opened the fourth with back-to-back three-point plays. Brendan McIntyre scored while being fouled and made the free throw, then Gilpin did the same.

As an example of Hampden’s control inside, Gilpin converted a three-point play in the third quarter after the Bulldogs had several shots at the basket but couldn’t score. That gave the Broncos a 14-point lead with 1:42 left in the third.

The Bulldogs kept pressing, and back-to-back baskets by Liam Densmore and Amir Moss cut it to 54-45 in the fourth. The Broncos answered like they had all game, scoring the next six points.

Steve Alex led Portland with 14 points before fouling out with 1:09 remaining.

Hampden Academy gave Portland a sampling of what the Bulldogs did to the Broncos at the start of last year’s game. The Broncos jumped out to a 13-6 lead as they were hot from 3-point range. Hampden made four 3-pointers in the first quarter, all from the corner as Portland’s defense wasn’t rotating fast enough.

Brendan McIntyre opened the game with a 3 from the corner. Later in the quarter, he hit his second from the corner to make it 8-4. Then it was Jake Black’s turn as he hit back-to-back 3s from the same spot in the corner to make it 13-6.

The Bulldogs finally shook their nerves and fought back into the game. Portland got its fast break moving and started moving the ball on offense. Amir Moss scored on a drive to cut the Broncos’ lead to 20-16, but Nick Chasse responded with his own drive.

Portland lost in a state championship game for the second time at the Augusta Civic Center. It dropped a 56-39 game to Bangor in 2007.