BANGOR – Matt Kinney found it a little too easy.

As Bangor High School teammate Danny Dahl rose for an off-balance jump shot from the top of the key in the waning seconds of Saturday’s season-opening Big East schoolboy basketball game, Kinney watched as every Caribou player on the floor moved forward to contest the shot.

Instead of remaining a spectator, though, Kinney went in the opposite direction to crash the boards.

Dahl’s shot bounced off the iron into Kinney’s hands for an uncontested put-back with two seconds left, giving Bangor a 56-54 victory here at Red Barry Gym.

Kinney’s shot allowed the Rams to sweep the Vikings after the Bangor girls took advantage of Caribou foul trouble for a 54-46 victory.

“When Danny went up to the top, everybody shifted because they didn’t want him to get off the shot,” said Kinney, a senior forward. “It left the backside board open. There was nobody there. They were all concentrating on the ball.”

The hoop capped a come-from-behind rally for the Rams, who bounced back from a seven-point deficit at the start of the final quarter. Bangor had previously gone through a dry spell when they scored only two field goals in 12 minutes.

A 9-2 run to end the third quarter gave Caribou a 42-35 lead entering the final eight minutes.

Bangor reserve Kenny Allen, who transferred in from Dover-Foxcroft and rode the bench for much of last season, kicked started the Rams back to live with a quarter-opening 3-point hoop from the top of the key.

A 10-2 run by the Rams set the stage for a back and forth fiminutes.

An offensive rebound by Richie Day and a free throw by Day 12 seconds later gave Bangor a 54-42 lead with 1:33 left.

Caribou tied it with two free throws from Scott Raymond with 1:22 remaining.

The Rams then stalled until they called for time with 18 seconds left to set up the final shot.

Senior center Nat Clark led Bangor with 13 points and seven rebounds while Dahl had 12, despite a woeful 2-for-17 shooting performance. Allen added 10 more for the Rams.

Chris Funk led Caribou with 22 points and 13 boards. Brett Doody added 16 points.

In the girls game, Bangor took advantage of Caribou foul trouble to turn a 32-32 tie into a comfortable win.

Bangor looked inside early, posting up frontcourt player Katie Clark (17 points, 6 rebounds) and Jen Sarjeant.

In a 46-second span of the first quarter, Caribou’s best inside player, Erin Cole-Karagory, picked up three fouls. With 5:52 left in the first half, she had picked up her fourth and was sent to the bench until the fourth quarter.

That allowed Bangor to take advantage underneath, outrebounding Caribou 34-20.

“(Cole-Karagory) is a great player and having her out of there for three-quarters of the game was a big key,” said Bangor coach Tom Tennett.

With the score tied at 32-all, a 12-4 run gave the Rams the breathing room they needed. Katie Clark started the run with a jump hook from the low post, while senior guard Kelly Waterman helped lead Bangor’s transition game with four assists during the stretch.

Caribou cut the lead to 48-43 on a Cole-Karagory hoop with 3:50 left, but a Becca Kinney basket and a Sara Parker driving lay up pushed the lead back to nine.

Kinney added 14 points and eight rebounds for Bangor.

Lise Carter and Erin Umphrey paced Caribou with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Ram girls 54, Vikings 46

Caribou Bangor

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

Carter 5 9 2 6 12 Waterman 2 3 0 0 4

Cole-Krgory 3 10 0 0 6 Parker 3 5 2 2 8

Umphrey 5 12 1 2 11 Kinney 7 10 0 0 14

McCormick 2 5 3 6 7 Sarjeant 2 6 3 5 7

Smith 1 4 1 3 4 Clark 6 11 5 10 17

Anderson 2 4 0 0 4 Partridge 0 2 0 0 0

Perrault 1 1 0 1 2 Murray 1 3 2 4 4

Michaud 0 0 0 0 0 Guiggey 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 19 45 7 18 46 Totals 21 40 12 21 54

Caribou 15 25 36 46

Bangor girls 10 26 44 54

3-pt. goals: Caribou (1-7): Smith 1-2, Carter 0-3, Cole-Karagory 0-2; Bangor (0-3): Partridge 0-2, Parker 0-1.

Ram boys 56, Vikings 54

Caribou Bangor

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

Griffeth 0 0 5 8 5 Dahl 2 17 7 11 12

Doody 5 12 6 8 16 Kinney 2 10 3 4 8

Funk 7 13 7 8 22 Clark 6 11 1 4 13

Ouellette 0 0 3 6 3 Jamieson 2 7 0 0 4

Dalton 2 5 0 0 4 Day 3 3 1 2 7

Raymond 1 2 2 2 4 Ke.Allen 2 6 4 4 10

Smith 0 2 0 0 0 McEwen 0 1 2 2 2

St. Peter 0 0 0 0 0 Wright 0 0 0 0 0

Guerette 0 0 0 0 0 Arsenault 0 0 0 0 0

Pelkey 0 0 0 2 0 Waterman 0 0 0 0 0

Soucie 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 15 34 23 34 54 Totals 17 55 18 27 56

Caribou 9 26 42 54

Bangor boys 17 29 35 56

3-pt. goals: Caribou (1-8): Funk 1-3, Doody 0-4, Smith 0-1; Bangor (4-12): Ke.Allen 2-3, Kinney 1-4, Dahl 1-5.