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BANGOR – For much of the first half, Bangor’s Joe Campbell found the going pretty tough anytime he stepped in or near the lane in Bangor’s Big East basketball tilt against Hampden Academy Friday night.
The Rams’ 6-foot-5 senior forward had two fellow six-footers to contend with in Hampden’s 6-5 Owen Caron and 6-6 Adam Russell, who double-teamed him whenever he touched the ball. The end result was six points and five rebounds in the first half while the Broncos’ duo combined for 14 points and six rebounds.
Throw in Hampden’s 66.7 percent shooting effort from the floor (14-for-21) in the first half and it’s easy to see why Hampden held a five-point halftime lead (30-25).
Then came the second half.
Campbell was Bangor’s Energizer Bunny inside as he simply wore down the Broncos en route to 17 points, 15 rebounds to lead the 3-0 Rams to a 52-45 victory over Hampden at Red Barry Gymnasium.
“Joe never got a break tonight … But Joe was Joe,” Rams coach Roger Reed said simply.
The second-half numbers were almost a reversal of the first as Campbell had 11 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks while the Caron-Russell duo combined for two points, four rebounds, and a block. Meanwhile, Bangor went from 42.8 percent (first half) to 50 from the field while Hampden went from 66.7 to 31.6 after a 1-for-9 effort in the fourth quarter.
“You know Joe’s gonna play right down to the buzzer and he made a few big plays, but we turned the ball over three times late and you can’t do that against a Bangor team when they keep hanging around in a tight game,” said coach Andy Frace, whose Broncos dip to 1-2.
Frace was hurt – and Campbell helped – by Hampden foul trouble in the second half as Caron picked up his third with 2:45 to play in the third quarter and his fourth with 1:06 elapsed in the fourth.
“Anytime one of the other team’s big guys gets some fouls, you try taking it to him so maybe you can get him out of the game and make your team’s situation a little better,” Campbell said.
Caron (team-high 14 points, seven rebounds) didn’t foul out, but he was limited in how aggressively he could play on the defensive end, which helped give Campbell a bit more freedom inside.
After sophomore guard Ben Keller (10 points) converted a three-point play to give Hampden a 43-38 lead with 7:04 left in the game, the Rams responded with a 10-0 run during a 6:20 span in which the Broncos were held scoreless. Two foul shots by junior guard Justin DiFrederico (14 points) with 44 seconds left were the only other Hampden points scored after Keller’s play.
“Down the stretch, we didn’t execute as well and didn’t play help-side defense as well because we were playing not to lose it,” Frace said. “We did take a big step defensively tonight though.”
Although he was also happy with his team’s defense, Reed was unhappy with a lack of offensive balance as Campbell was the only double-figure Bangor scorer.
“They’re going to double up on Joe all the time so other people have got to score,” Reed said. “We’ve just got to find some other guys who are gonna be consistent scorers.”
Sophomore point guard Zak Ray, who moved from Winslow last summer, was Bangor’s next-highest scorer (eight points). He also had a game-high six assists.
“This is a great situation to come into and we’re starting to come together better now,” said Ray. “And Joe is just unstoppable.”
Rams 52, Broncos 45
Hampden Academy (1-2) Bangor boys (3-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP
DiFrederico 6 14 2 2 14 Vanidestine 0 3 4 6 4
Shaw 0 0 0 0 0 Ray 2 7 4 6 8
B.Keller 4 6 1 3 10 Shea 3 8 0 0 7
Burke 0 1 1 2 1 Anderson 0 0 0 0 0
Dionne 1 3 0 0 2 Bombardier 0 0 1 3 1
Caron 7 11 0 0 14 Campbell 8 13 1 2 17
S.Keller 1 1 0 0 2 Johnson 2 3 0 0 4
Russell 1 4 0 0 2 Bouchard 1 2 0 0 3
Bell 3 4 0 0 6
Shain 0 1 2 2 2
Totals 20 40 4 7 45 Totals 19 41 12 19 52
Hampden Academy 12 30 40 45
Bangor 11 25 38 52
3-pt. goals: Hampden (1-4): B. Keller 1-2, DiFrederico 0-2; Bangor (2-9): Bouchard 1-1, Shea 1-2, Johnson 0-1, Campbell 0-2, Ray 0-3
Attendance: 500 (est.)
Preliminary: Bangor JVs 74-63
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