BANGOR – Erica Prudente didn’t score a point for the Bangor girls basketball team in Big East Conference matchup against Presque Isle Monday afternoon.

She didn’t take a shot. Never got to the free-throw line. Didn’t rebound (then again, at 5-foot-3, the senior isn’t responsible for rebounding).

But Prudente may have been the most critical Ram player on the Red Barry Gymnasium floor against the Wildcats.

Bangor’s diamond-and-1 defense, with Prudente guarding Presque Isle sophomore Billi Blanchard, limited the Wildcats to two first-half points, and Alison Smith’s 14 points helped the Rams roll to a 52-14 victory.

Bangor is now 9-1 and has won five games in a row. Presque Isle, which was coming off Saturday’s pointworthy upset of Hampden, fell to 5-5.

Inconsistency has been a problem for the Wildcats this season, but Prudente was their biggest headache Monday. Blanchard, the sister of former PI star Brianna Blanchard, had been averaging about 15 points per contest but did not score in the game.

“Mentally she has to be tougher,” Presque Isle coach Jeff Hudson said. “She sees [the defense] and she gets really rattled. I think that hurt us more than anything, Billi getting rattled, and then everyone gets rattled. We knew they were going to do it, we just didn’t execute the way we hoped we would. Not at all.”

Bangor pressed and trapped, and Prudente played Blanchard man-to-man. Presque Isle couldn’t get the ball inside, missed outside shots, and didn’t grab rebounds (although Blanchard finished with eight).

Guards Melissa Achorn, Ashley Tower, and Erinne Magee also rotated in to help.

“Just to shut her down, not let her touch the ball, was my main goal,” Prudente said. “I had to stay in her face and not let her shoot it.”

Bangor jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and held PI scoreless through the second quarter, until Melissa Blackstone hit a long jumper a little more than a minute into the third.

Smith and Katherine Miller, meanwhile, did a lot of damage for Bangor under the basket. In the final 1:17 of the first half, Smith scored twice (once off her own steal) and freshman Marissa McLeod put in a pass from Prudente to go ahead 25-2.

McLeod, in her first career start, finished with seven points, all in the first half, and seven rebounds.

As good as the Rams were defensively, the offense wasn’t as sharp as it could have been. They made 18 of their 50 field-goal attempts and went 14-for-21 from the free-throw line (although Bangor connected on 11 of 15 tries in the second half).

“We’re always concerned about the second half,” Miller said. “We usually do well in the first half, but we wanted to play hard right until the end.”

Smith pulled down 13 rebounds, assisted on Bangor’s first three baskets of the game, and finished with five steals. Miller scored six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Jlynn Frazier finished with eight.

Presque Isle guard Natalie Hamel scored a team-high five points off the bench.

Bangor forward Terra Curtis did not play due to illness, coach Tom Tennett said.

The Rams start a nine-day layoff during which they will work to get healthy (three starters have dealt with injuries recently and a cold has been making the rounds) and take some time Wednesday to go bowling before facing Class B Bucksport Jan. 25.

Rams 52, Wildcats 14

Presque Isle (5-5) Bangor (9-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Watananuchit 0 0 0 0 0 Prudente 0 0

Blackstone 2 6 0 0 4 Tower 0 5 0

McKenna 1 4 0 0 2 Achorn 0 3 0 0

Post 0 4 1 2 1 McLeod 3 8 1 7

Condon 0 1 0 0 0 Miller 5 8 0 10

DeMerchant 0 2 0 2 0 Frazier 2 10 8

McHatten 1 4 0 0 2 Capehart 0 0

Hamel 2 9 0 0 5 Smith 4 10 6 14

Blanchard 0 4 0 2 0 Michaud 2 2 7

Bishop 0 0 0 0 0 Woodcock 0 0 0

Tuttle 0 6 0 0 0 Magee 1 1 0 3

Putnam 0 0 0 2 0 Warner 1 1 0 2

Clarke 0 1 0 0

Hayden 0 1 1 1

Totals 6 40 1 8 14 Totals 18 50 14 21 52

Presque Isle 2 2 9 14

Bangor 11 25 32 52

3-pt. goals: Presque Isle (1-6): Hamel 1-5, McHatten 0-1; Bangor (2-8): Magee 1-1, Frazier 1-6, Tower 0-1

Attendance: 350 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 63-36