Bangor defense is key to victory over Panther girls

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The Bangor Rams turned in an exemplary defensive performance on the basketball court here Saturday afternoon.

Coach Tom Tennett’s Rams shook up Waterville with hustling, full-court pressure, forcing many of the Panthers’ 46 turnovers.

Bangor was not nearly as effective on the offensive end, but Courtney Parker made five of six free throws in the fourth quarter to help the hosts hang on for a 34-32 Class A schoolgirl basketball victory at Red Barry Gym.

Defense was the difference for Bangor, which improved to 2-0.

“A win’s a win and we’ll take it,” Tennett said. “I thought we did a lot of good things defensively.

“We had scouted them and we felt they’d turn the ball over against our press, but we thought we’d be able to convert a little bit more than we did. We’ve just got to work our our offense.”

This was a game players and coaches of both teams will waste no time trying to forget.

The ball would not fall for either team, while the unusually high number of turnovers (76 combined) and personal fouls (47 total) made it virtually impossible for either squad to develop any semblance of offensive flow.

“I think it was just a case of when you’re young and you haven’t played together, there’s always going to be games where everyone’s out of synch,” Tennett said.

Although the 2-2 Panthers were in the game all the way, the Rams began to take the upper hand during the first four-plus minutes of the second half.

Amy Waterman’s 10-foot jumper from the lane 21 seconds into the third quarter put Bangor ahead for good at 14-12. After a Sara Parker steal, older sister Courtney Parker scored from close range on a loose-ball situation.

Twenty seconds later, a steal by Courtney Parker led to a fast-break layup by Sara Parker that made it 18-12 with 6:07 to play in the third. Neither team scored again until Bangor’s Jeanne Englebrecht scored a layup ofscored again until Bangor’s Jeanne Englebrecht scored a layup off a Mandy Ingalls feed at the 3:42 mark to extend the lead to eight.

Waterville, which could muster no offensive continuity whatsoever because of its turnover woes, did most of its damage from the free-throw line. Despite the fact the Panthers made only two field goals in the last 26 minutes of the contest, they came back to tie the game at 23-all.

Trailing 23-20, Bari Nixon made the front end of a one-and-one and Laurie Lenz hit two foul shots to make it 23-23 with 7:06 to play. However, a rebound basket by Mary Estey and an Estey hoop from the lane kept the Rams on top.

Courtney Parker was the catalyst for Bangor with 10 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Estey added eight points and a strong defensive effort against Lenz.

Leah Thistle added six points, 10 rebounds and four steals for Bangor. Rams senior co-captain Charlotte Cyr sat out most of the contest while in foul trouble.

Nixon led the way for Waterville with a game-high 13 points, seven steals and six rebounds. Jen Hanley and Lenz combined for nine points and 17 rebounds.

Each team shot a dismal 18 percent from the the floor, with Bangor making only 12 of 67 and Waterville hitting six of 33.

Rams 34, Panthers 32

Bangor girls Waterville

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

C. Parker 10 2 8 6 10 Nixon 9 3 11 6 13

Estey 10 4 0 0 8 Hanley 2 0 8 5 5

Thistle 16 1 6 4 6 Lenz 10 0 5 4 4

Cyr 1 1 0 0 2 Cloutier 1 0 3 2 2

Waterman 2 1 0 0 2 Comeau 2 0 1 0 0

Englebr’cht 7 2 0 0 4 Gerrish 3 1 3 2 4

S. Parker 4 1 0 0 2 Fisher 3 1 1 0 2

Cook 10 0 0 0 0 Browne 3 1 0 0 2

Ingalls 4 0 0 0 0 Atkins 0 0 2 0 0

Nye 2 0 0 0 0 Roddy 0 0 0 0 0

Puls 1 0 0 0 0 McDermott 0 0 0 0 0

Murray 0 0 0 0 0

Wilson 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 67 12 14 10 34 Totals 33 6 34 19 32

Bangor 8 12 23 34

Waterville 6 12 20 32

3-pt. goals: Bangor (0-12): Ingalls 0-2, C. Parker 0-6, S. Parker 0-1, Cook 0-3; Waterville (1-5): Comeau 0-1, Nixon 1-2, Browne 0-1, Lenz 0-1