Bangor edges Broncs> St. Pierre steps up, sparks Rams

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BANGOR – The Bangor Rams got themselves into trouble Wednesday night, but managed to crawl out by the time Wednesday night’s game with Hampden was over.

A quick look at the records would have led many to believe this game would be a cakewalk. A bloodbath.

But Bangor’s slow start and Hampden’s nagging tendency to hit the shots to keep it close ruined the script.

Down by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, Bangor managed to pull it together with help from Mike Arsenault’s six points in a 1:19 fourth-quarter span and Jason St. Pierre’s 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line in the game’s last 12 minutes.

St. Pierre powered the Rams through overtime, with nine of his team’s 10 points, to a 60-55 schoolboy basketball win at Red Barry Gymnasium.

“I had to touch [the ball] at the end of the quarter and at the end of the game, and they kept feeding it to me,” said St. Pierre, who helped spark the Rams’ turnaround by driving to the basket more often.

“They played a 1-3-1 zone and we didn’t have very good open shots from outside, so we had to create our own shots,” said St. Pierre.

St. Pierre opened the overtime scoring with two free throws with 3:27 remaining for Bangor’s 52-50 lead, and Hampden’s Derek Rogerson missed a pair 20 seconds later.

Bangor’s senior guard added another free throw before a lane violation nullified his second attempt.

Rogerson redeemed himself with two free throws, but St. Pierre stretched the lead to five with a 10-foot jumper and a baseline drive before Hampden’s Aaron Peppard netted a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to bring the Broncos as close as 57-55.

Mike Wilcox converted on a free throw before St. Pierre added his last points from the line to finish with 25 points on the night.

Arsenault finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, including six in the first quarter. Peter Pitula came off the bench to fuel the Rams, now 11-1, early with 13 of Bangor’s 23 first-half points. He finished with 15.

Hampden, now 4-8, got 25 points and 10 boards from Peppard, and freshman Rogerson added 19 points.

Bangor trailed by 12 points following Hampden’s 11-2 run to open the third quarter, sparked by two Peppard 3-pointers.

The Rams came back using a 12-2 charge in a three-minute span as Arsenault hit a 10-footer and two more on post moves and St. Pierre converted two free throws and drove through the lane to grab a 45-44 lead with 4:28 left.

Rogerson nailed a free throw 20 seconds later to tie the game, but St. Pierre’s baseline drive boosted Bangor to the lead with 1:27 left in regulation.

Rogerson answered with a 3-pointer from the right baseline 22 seconds later, and Hampden missed an opportunity to pad the lead when Aaron Beaulieu missed two free throws with 52 seconds left.

Peppard knocked down both of his free throws for a 50-47 Hampden lead after Tom Waterman committed his fifth foul at the 39.2-second mark.

St. Pierre found himself on the baseline and hurt Hampden with a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime with 22 seconds left.

“The thing about this is you’re playing Bangor, you’re in Bangor, and you know they’re going to make their run,” Hampden coach Andy Frace said. “Any team coached by Roger Reed is going to make their run. We talked about it, and when it came right down to it, we let St. Pierre turn around and jump and put it right through the tire.”

Hampden never trailed by more than three points and traded the lead 11 times before falling.

The Broncos found scoring power from six players in the first half, but that number dwindled to three in the second half.

“What happened is they stopped going to the basket,” Frace said of his team. “They need to have confidence in their game. Everybody’s game. Not just one player.

“They had a great first half. They had a great third quarter.”

Rams 60, Broncos 55

Hampden (4-8) Bangor (11-1)

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

Roberts 0 2 0 0 0 Turner 0 0 0 0 0

Rogerson 5 13 7 11 19 Waterman 1 7 0 0 2

Martin 0 3 0 1 0 St. Pierre 7 18 9 10 25

T. Shaw 0 0 0 0 0 Moses 0 0 0 0 0

C. Shaw 1 1 0 0 2 Peoples 0 0 0 0 0

Thomas 1 1 0 0 2 Wilcox 0 4 1 2 1

Crawford 2 3 1 1 5 Civiello 0 0 2 2 2

Peppard 8 14 5 7 25 Arsenault 7 12 1 2 15

Beaulieu 1 2 0 2 2 Pitula 6 8 2 2 15

Totals 18 39 13 22 55 Totals 21 49 15 18 60

Hampden 9 24 41 50 55

Bangor 9 23 33 50 60

3-pt. goals: Hampden (6-18): Roberts 0-1, Rogerson 2-6, Martin 0-3, Peppard 4-7, Beaulieu 0-1; Bangor (3-13): Waterman 0-2, St. Pierre 2-7, Wilcox 0-2, Pitula 1-2

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 65, Hampden 47