Rams’ tough defense key vs. Indians

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BANGOR – They were outshot from the floor and the line, outrebounded defensively and overall, and two of their best players combined for only 10 points.

Yet thanks to their trademark, razor-sharp, man-to-man defensive pressure and clutch efforts from gritty seniors Jim Shea and Joe Vanidestine, the Bangor Rams managed to pull out a 44-43 victory over Skowhegan Monday night at the Bangor Auditorium for their second straight Eastern Maine Class A schoolboy basketball title.

“It was just a matter of who was ahead when the buzzer went off,” said Rams coach Roger Reed. “We were very fortunate. They made us look bad tonight.”

The Rams improved to 20-1, won their sixth regional title in the last 10 years, and earned a return ticket to the state game, this time against West champ Deering of Portland on the Bangor Auditorium floor at 9 p.m. Saturday.

To say Bangor did it the hard way wouldn’t do the defensive battle justice.

The Rams and the Indians simply made every point a struggle and contested every shot or pass like it was the possible game-winner. As it turned out, each one could have been exactly that.

After eight lead changes, three in the prior 72 seconds, the Rams took the lead, albeit tenuously, for good with 6:25 left in the game on two foul shots by Vanidestine.

The Rams pushed their lead to 37-33 with 3:08 to play on a rebounded miss by senior center Joe Campbell (eight points, 17 rebounds, six steals) and two foul shots by Jim Shea, who scored 11 before fouling out with 2:18 left.

Skowhegan trimmed Bangor’s lead to two on a put-back by Matthiah Larkin (13 points, seven rebounds) and the teams traded conventional three-point plays before the final dramatics in an already suspense-packed affair.

With 48.7 seconds left, Rams sophomore point guard Zak Ray missed two foul shots. The Indians had a chance to tie, but Larkin’s shot from the low post on a lob feed from Derek Holt bounced off the rim into Campbell’s hands. Ray took the pass and was fouled.

With 27 ticks left, Ray, who was 0-for-6 from the field and 0-for-5 from the line, stepped up for two more attempts. As fans rained down a cacophony of brain-jarring noise, Ray drained his first shot. After a full Skowhegan timeout, he strode to the line and sank the second to make it 42-38 Bangor. They were his only points in the game.

“They were his only two, but those were the two to win the game, I think,” said Vanidestine, who scored a game-high 18 points.

Ten seconds later, Skowhegan’s Ryan Kelley scored his only points of the game on a rebound from the low post. After another Indians timeout, Vanidestine inbounded the ball to Ray, who became boxed in near the baseline. Ray managed to lob the ball back to Vanidestine on the left sideline and Vanidestine was fouled. With 12 seconds to play, Vanidestine hit both shots.

Four seconds later, Indians guard Sean Walker (14 points, seven boards) hit an off-balance, one-handed running 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 44-43, but time ran down as the Rams inbounded the ball.

Confusion reigned as a whistle blew for a possible foul, the clock apparently ran out, and a jubilant throng of Bangor fans swarmed over the players on the court. After officials conferred with the timekeeper, the game was declared over and the Rams’ celebration raged on in earnest.

“There might have been a second tick or something left, but they called a foul – I’m not sure if it was deliberate or not – and we were going to shoot two free throws,” said Reed. “I don’t think it would have made any difference one way or the other.”

Indians coach Larry Judd was frustrated by the game’s ending, but refused to shell out blame.

“I absolutely love this team. They did everything they could but win tonight,” said Judd, whose Indians end up 18-3. “We did what we needed to do to win, but I just think it’s really tough to beat Bangor in the Bangor Auditorium.”

Bangor was outrebounded 36-33 overall, outshot 39.5 percent to 27.5 from the floor and 64.3 to 52.2 from the line, but the Rams forced 18 turnovers to only seven themselves.

“Like we’ve been saying all season, the defense will always be there,” said Ray.

Rams 44, Indians 43

Skowhegan (18-3) Bangor (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hight 0 1 0 0 0 Vanidestine 4 14 7 8 18

Larkin 5 8 3 4 13 Ray 0 6 2

Brod 0 0 0 0 0 Shea 4 14 2 11

Holt 2 9 0 0 6 Bombardier 0 1 0

Dunlap 1 2 1 2 3 Campbell 4 8

Walker 4 10 4 6 14 Johnson 0 3 0

Anzelc 2 5 1 2 5 Bouchard 1 2

Kelley 1 3 0 0 2 Bell 0 0 0

Shain 1 2 1 3

Totals 15 38 9 14 43 14 51 12 23 44

Skowhegan 7 20 30 43

Bangor 7 22 26 44

3-pt. goals: Skowhegan (4-14): Holt 2-7, Walker 2-6, Dunlap 0-1; Bangor (4-14): Vanidestine 3-8, Shea 1-3, Ray 0-2, Campbell 0-1