BREWER – It’s difficult to put much stock in the first game of the basketball season when you have 17 more to go, but Saturday’s game may very well prove to be a big one for the Brewer boys basketball team.

The Witches stormed out to a comfortable early lead thanks to deadly perimeter shooting and then weathered the pressure generated by Presque Isle’s ferocious press late before the clouds finally parted on a 58-53 Brewer victory.

“They’re a very good basketball team that’s going to get better as the season goes on, so this is a big win for us this early on,” said Witches coach Mark Reed. “I was proud of my kids. They were able to hold on and we had some younger kids step up for us.”

“Kids” like junior forward Chad Gomm, who shuttled between JV and varsity last year, but an offseason of work on the court and in the weight room have helped him bulk up for the rigors of the paint.

Gomm, 4-for-5 from the field in the second half, had 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“He’s a tough kid with a big body and some skills and he was able to do some things for us down low,” Reed said. “That’s important because we’re not a real big team.”

Another “kid” who came through for the Witches, especially early on, was Jon Bell, who simply torched Presque Isle from long range as he was 5-for-5 from the floor in the first half and 3-for-3 from 3-point range for 16 points.

The shooting of Bell and fellow junior guard Zach Bouzan-Kaloustian, who hit all three of his 3-pointers and had 12 points, helped open up the lane for Gomm.

Brewer jumped out to a 19-9 lead before the Wildcats closed the gap to 21-17 with six minutes left in the first half, but then a 16-3 Witches run starting with 4:32 left in the first half and ending one minute into the second put them up 39-22.

Presque Isle answered again, this time with a 14-2 run fueled by junior forward Fred Bird (18 points, five rebounds) and senior center Matt Fortin (seven points, seven rebounds), who combined for nine of those 14 points and got the Wildcats within five points of Brewer at the start of the final quarter. From there, Brewer held its lead at six or more points until a 3-pointer by Nick Casavant (11 points) made it 56-51 Witches with 1:46 to play.

Despite missing 7 of 10 foul shots in the last two minutes, the Witches managed to pull the game out as Presque Isle missed five of its final six free throws.

“Our three best offensive players go 6-for-37 from the floor,” said coach Tim Prescott, whose ‘Cats shot a paltry 29.1 percent from the floor for the game. “When you miss 10 or so free throws and shoot that kind of percentage, you’re not going to beat anyone in Class A.”

Ryan Graves had 11 points and 5-11 guard Denis Saucier led PI with 10 rebounds. Brewer outrebounded the Wildcats overall 36-35, but Presque Isle held a 16-8 edge on the offensive boards and committed 13 turnovers to Brewer’s 20.

Witches 58, Wildcats 53

Presque Isle boys (0-1) Brewer (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Graves 2 14 7 9 11 Bernier 0 2 0

James 0 2 1 4 1 Sargent 0 6 10 6

Deschene 0 1 0 0 0 Bzan-Kalstian 3 12

Saucier 2 10 1 2 5 Doucette 0 0

Lockhart 0 1 0 0 0 J.Bell 6 8 16

Casavant 2 13 6 7 11 I.Bell 0 0 1

Bird 8 12 0 1 18 Drillen 0 0 0 0

Hall 0 0 0 0 0 Breindel 3 4 8

Fortin 2 2 3 6 7 King 0 0 0

Gomm 7 16 1 15

Totals 16 55 18 29 53 19 41 14 25 58

Presque Isle 12 22 36 53

Brewer 19 33 41 58

3-pt. goals: Presque Isle (3-17): Bird 2-2, Casavant 1-6, Saucier 0-2, Graves 0-7; Brewer (6-7): J. Bell 3-3, Bouzan-Kaloustian 3-3, Sargent 0-1

Attendance: 350 (est.)

Preliminary: Brewer JV 60-33