Hall-Dales’ Jett Boyer, left, and Dirigo’s Luke Lueders battle for a rebound during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)

FARMINGDALE — Hall-Dale took lessons learned from its only loss of the season, mixed in home-court advantage and a tournament-like atmosphere and had the perfect recipe for revenge against Dirigo on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs built an 11-point lead in the first quarter and kept the Cougars from making a serious run after that to earn a 61-48 win in a key Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball clash at Penny Memorial Gym.

The win avenges a 52-51 loss on Jan. 20 in Dixfield.

“It was a revenge game for us to get them at home after losing at their place,” Hall-Dale senior point guard Tyler Nadeau said. “We had a lot of extra energy. I think we just came with a little more grit than we did earlier.”

Ashtyn Abbott led all scorers with 17 points for Hall-Dale (16-1), while Alec Byron added 16 points and Nadeau 12. Alex Gorham led Dirigo (10-6) with 14 points, while Cooper Chiasson chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Luke Lueders finished with 11 points.

Led by Abbott, Byron and Owen Dupont, Hall-Dale controlled the paint and the boards for much of the first half to take a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and 34-20 lead at halftime.

“We wanted to play off Leuders to keep him out of the center of our defense, which is where he really carved us up in Dixfield,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “(Jeremy) St. Germain had 20 (points) when we played them up there, so really the focus was to keep (Leuders) out of the paint and not let him make plays for other guys.”

“I told the guys at halftime we weren’t rebounding, we’re missing all of our layups and we’re only down 14,” Dirigo coach Travis Magnusson said. “We’re right there. We’ve just got to fight.”

The Cougars regrouped and held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 4:20 of the second half but could only cut three points off of the deficit due to their own shooting woes (2-for-10 in the quarter, 13-for-43 for the game). Nadeau finally broke Hall-Dale’s cold spell with a 10-footer that made it 36-23.

Trailing 43-29, Dirigo started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run on a St. Germain hoop, two Gorham free throws and Chase Clark’s three-point play that made it 43-36 with 5:51 to go. 

“We continued to show fight and never gave up,” Magnusson said. “They did a great job of double-teaming us inside. We didn’t get layups but we got 5-foot shots that we’ve got to make. I liked our shots all night. Hopefully we see these guys again (in the tournament). They’re a great team. We have to play hard every possession because that’s how good we are.”

But the Cougars wouldn’t get another field goal for the next 2:42. In the interim, Abbott hit a pair of free throws and Nadeau scored on a give-and-go to put the margin back into double digits to stay. Dirigo also lost St. Germain (five points, seven rebounds) when he picked up his fifth foul with 4:48 to go.

The Bulldogs shot 23-for-26 from the foul line, led by Byron, who was a perfect 11-for-11.

“I know that down the stretch free throws get really important, so those are big,” said Byron, who was 8-for-8 in the fourth. “Along with intensity, that’s one of our main focuses.”

Hall-Dale’s Ashtyn Abbott, left, and Dirigo’s Jeremy St. Germain jump for opening tip to start a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Hall-Dale’s Alec Byron, left, and Dirigo’s Cooper Chaissson go for rebound during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Hall-Dale’s Dean Jackman, left, shoots over Dirigo’s Chase Clark during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Dirigo’s Chase Clark, top, plays defense on Hall-Dale’s Dean Jackman, during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Dirigo’s Alex Gorham, left, looks to shoot as Hall-Dale’s Jett Boyer plays defense during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Hall-Dale’s Ashtyn Abbott, left, and Dirigo’s Jeremy St. Germain rebound during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)Hall-Dale’s Jett Boyer, left, Tim Cookson and Dirigo’s Jeremy St. Germain rebound during a game in the Penny Memorial Gym on Thursday at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)