BREWER – People all across Maine would have had no problem getting into the mindset of the Brewer High School boys basketball team on Saturday.

In the same manner people dealt with the oncoming blizzard which was expected to dump more than a foot of snow across the state, the Brewer Witches had to deal with an undefeated Bangor High School squad.

For all parties, there was an air of resignation and a trace of inevitibility surrounding both events.

In the end, it was Bangor 63, Brewer 49, and the snowstorm an estimated 12-24 inches.

In front of a regional television audience, the Witches put forth a great effort. They pressed and pushed and did everything else which had helped them win 10 of 15 games this season.

When the final buzzer sounded, though, Bangor just proved to be too big, too tough and, simply, too good.

While much ado has been made about Bangor’s offensive game this season, it was what the Rams did without the ball that led to victory No. 13 this season:

Behind the strong defensive play of 6-foot-3 junior forward Richie Day and 6-2 senior Matt Kinney, Bangor forced Brewer into a 40-percent shooting afternoon (18-for-45) while limiting top scorer Jared Seavey to 13 points.

Day was a force inside, altering a number of Brewer’s shots from the paint while also picking off nine rebounds, eight of them offensive.

It was those offensive rebounds that Brewer coach Mark Savage pointed to as the biggest key for the Rams.

“Those offensive boards. I hate to keep coming back to that, but wow, they are just so tough,” said Savage. “I haven’t seen the film yet, but Kinney and Day just killed us on the boards.”

When Brewer had cut a 12-point Bangor lead down to 44-37 with 3:45 left in the third quarter, it was Day who stopped the bleeding with an offensive rebound putback of a Tommy Waterman miss to make it 46-37.

That kick-started an 11-5 Bangor run which put the game away for good.

“I just go out and get these guys’ shots, get them the ball, and take what they give me,” said Day, who finished with 12 points. “Sometimes the ball bounces my way, other times I’ve got to work at it and get into position.”

“Richie Day is a powerful player for us,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “We love what he does for us. It’s not a case of just scoring. He’s so athletic and he’s such a strong kid he’ll rebound, play defense. He’ll play his role.”

Kinney, meanwhile, joined backcourtmate Danny Dahl as the game’s high scorers with 18 points, and made sure Seavey had a hand in his face every time the Brewer senior touched the ball.

“You’ve got to always be looking for a screen, too, because he’s always moving,” said Kinney, who held Seavey to 10 points in the first meeting of the two teams. “Basically you’ve just to got to stay close to him.”

Toss in only six Bangor turnovers against Brewer’s vaunted pressure defense and a 33-23 rebounding edge by the Rams and it spelled as long a day for the Witches as it would be for the snowplow crews.

Kinney and Day had eight rebounds each while Day had four assists and Kinney three.

Jon Thomas added 10 points for the Witches. Seavey had seven rebounds, Thomas six.

“You know I don’t think we played that badly,” Savage said. “Their ball handling just nullified our press. Offensively, we missed some shots, missed a few block-outs. Rebounding was the entire difference.”

The day had started out on a negative for the Rams as Brewer’s JV team handed the Rams their first setback in more than two years, 51-48.

Then, Brewer came out the blocks quickly, staying with Bangor for the game’s first four minutes.

Bangor led 9-8 early, before a Josh Jamieson jumper from the baseline started an 8-0 Bangor run.

Brewer came back again, narrowing the lead to 22-18, but two Day free throws started another 8-0 spurt, allowing the Rams to take a 30-18 lead with 3:05 left in the second quarter.

Brewer continued to hang around before Day, Kinney, and the rest of Bangor’s defense stiffened early in the fourth.

After that, Brewer – like the rest of the state – just couldn’t shovel out fast enough to keep things going.

Rams 63, Witches 49

Bangor Brewer

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

McEwen 1 3 3 6 5 Freeman 1 1 0 0 2

Dahl 7 16 3 5 18 Leavitt 1 5 3 4 5

Kinney 8 16 1 5 18 Leighton 2 4 0 0 4

Clark 2 3 0 0 4 Seavey 5 12 2 3 13

Day 3 7 6 10 12 Thomas 4 7 2 3 10

Waterman 1 3 2 3 4 Billings 2 5 3 5 7

Jamieson 1 3 0 0 2 King 1 4 0 0 2

Somes 0 2 2 2 2

Hinckley 0 2 0 0 0

Johnston 2 3 0 0 4

Totals 23 51 15 29 63 Totals 18 45 12 17 49

Bangor 17 36 46 63

Brewer 12 24 36 49

3-pt. goals: Bangor (2-7): Dahl 1-3, Kinney 1-2, Clark 0-1, Jamieson 0-1; Brewer (1-5): Seavey 1-5.

Preliminary: Brewer JVs 51, Bangor JVs 48

Bangor-Brewer running score

Play by play from Saturday’s Big East boys basketball matchup with time left in quarter, scoring team, player and description of score, and running game score:

First Quarter

7:25 Brewer, Jon Thomas, 10-foot baseline jumper, 2-0,

Witches

7:12 Bangor, Dan Dahl, two free throws, 2-2, tie

6:59 Brewer, Jason Leighton, 10-foot baseline jumper, 4-2,

Witches

6:41 Bangor, Matt Kinney, offensive rebound putback, 4-4,

tie

6:09 Bangor, Dahl, post-up move, 6-4, Rams

5:10 Brewer, Jared Seavey, 19-foot wing jumper, 6-6, tie

4:30 Bangor, Kinney, post-up move, fouled, one free throw,

9-6, Rams

4:15 Brewer, Thomas, post-up move, fouled, missed free

throw, 9-8, Rams

3:39 Bangor, Josh Jamieson, 15-foot baseline jumper,

11-8, Rams

2:45 Bangor, Dahl, 8-foot turnaround baseline jumper, 13-8,

Rams

1:56 Bangor, Dahl, transition layup, 15-8, Rams

1:35 Bangor, Richie Day, two free throws, 17-8, Rams

1:10 Brewer, Mike Johnston, scoop shot from low post, 17-10,

Rams

0:18 Brewer, Randy Billings, two free throws, 17-12, Rams

Second Quarter

7:43 Brewer, Troy Leavitt, 12-foot wing jumper, 17-14, Rams

7:12 Bangor, Dahl, baseline 3-point shot, 20-14, Rams

6:49 Brewer, Leavitt, post-up move, 20-16, Rams

6:27 Bangor, Nat Clark, offensive rebound, 22-16, Rams

6:18 Brewer, Leighton, 8-foot baseline jumper, 22-18, Rams

5:25 Bangor, Day, two free throws, 24-18, Rams

4:40 Bangor, Mark McEwen, driving layup, 26-18, Rams

4:27 Bangor, Dahl, steal and fastbreak layup, 28-18, Rams

4:00 Timeout, Brewer

4:00 Bangor, McEwen, one of two free throws, 29-18, Rams

3:05 Bangor, Day, one of two free throws, 30-18, Rams

2:54 Brewer, Seavey, 17-foot wing jumper, 30-20, Rams

2:41 Bangor, Dahl, one of two free throws, 31-20, Rams

2:28 Brewer, Leavitt, two free throws, 31-22, Rams

1:40 Brewer, Jeremy Somes, two free throws, 31-24, Rams

1:18 Bangor, Day, post-up move, 33-24, Rams

0:02 Bangor, Kinney, off-balance 3-pointer from wing, was

fouled, missed free throw, 36-24, Rams

Third Quarter

7:24 Brewer, Thomas, 10-foot hook shot, 36-26, Rams

7:02 Bangor, Day, post-up move, 38-26, Rams

6:43 Brewer, Seavey, 10-foot baseline jumper, 38-28, Rams

6:31 Bangor, Tommy Waterman, 12-foot wing jumper, was

fouled, missed free throws, 40-28, Rams

6:15 Brewer, Seavey, 21-foot, 3-point shot, 40-31, Rams

6:06 Bangor, Kinney, offensive rebound putback, 42-31, Rams

5:32 Bangor, Dahl, fast-break layup, 44-31, Rams

5:11 Brewer, Nate Freeman, 8-foot jump shot, 44-33, Rams

4:24 Brewer, Thomas, offensive rebound putback, 44-35, Rams

3:58 Timeout Bangor

3:45 Brewer, Thomas, two free throws, 44-37, Rams

3:18 Bangor, Day, offensive rebound putback, 46-37, Rams

2:10 Brewer, Seavey, 19-foot wing jumper, 46-39, Rams

Fourth Quarter

7:35 Bangor, Kinney, offensive rebound putback, 48-39, Rams

6:48 Bangor, McEwen, one of two free throws, 49-39, Rams

6:10 Bangor, Kinney, back-door layup, 51-39, Rams

5:29 Bangor, Dahl, driving layup, 53-39, Rams

4:09 Brewer, Johnston, post-up move, 53-41, Rams

3:38 Bangor, Clark, post-up move, 55-41, Rams

3:09 Brewer, Leavitt, one of two free throws, 55-42, Rams

2:03 Bangor, Kinney, post-up move, was fouled, missed free

throws, 57-42, Rams

1:18 Brewer, Seavey, two free throws, 57-44, Rams

1:04 Bangor, Kinney, layup, 59-44, Rams

0:57 Brewer, Adam King, 17-foot baseline jumper, 59-46, Rams

0:44 Bangor, Waterman, two free throws, 61-46, Rams

0:38 Brewer, Billings, 19-foot wing jumper, 61-48, Rams

0:17 Brewer, Billings, one of three free throws, 61-49, Rams

0:16 Bangor, McEwen, one of two free throws, 62-49, Rams

0:03 Bangor, Day, one of two free throws, 63-49, Rams