BANGOR – Having two starters out with leg injuries and some holiday-break rust to shake off, Bangor Christian was looking for a quick start.

Luckily for the Patriots, they got exactly that as they had to hold off a stubborn rally from Jonesport-Beals late before squeezing out a 57-56 victory at Newman Gymnasium on the Husson College campus Friday night.

The Patriots never trailed after the opening minute and held a constant lead over the final 21 minutes, but they had to squirm while watching an 11-point lead vaporize in the final quarter and shrink to three with 3:28 to play.

“We just needed about 15 more seconds. I think if we’d had that, we could have pulled it out,” said Jonesport-Beals coach Bimbo Pinkham, whose team slips to 3-5.

The 6-3 Patriots got huge efforts out of junior forwards Pam Reitsma and Jenna Seymour, who made a living in the paint and on the blocks with a combined 29 points and 27 rebounds.

“The tough part was they got a lot of passes inside on us and really beat us in there,” said Pinkham.

Seymour came alive in the second half with nine of her 11 points and nine of her 12 boards as she and Reitsma accounted for 11 of the Patriots final 13 points.

“A lot of it was just cutting to the ball and the guards making good passes,” said Reitsma, who had a game-high 18 points and 15 boards.

The Pats outrebounded Jonesport-Beals 47-40 overall and 22-16 on the offensive boards, but virtually owned the post down the stretch as their last 13 points came in the paint or from the blocks.

Conversely, the Royalettes got back in the game by cranking up their outside shooting. Freshman sub Jody Pinkham teamed up with senior starting guards Jeanna Woodward and Shafay Look to rain down five 3-pointers over the final nine minutes and turn a 44-33 Pats lead late in the third quarter into a one-point margin as time was running out.

Also aiding Jonesport-Beals’ rally was turnovers. The Royalettes switched from zone to man-to-man and then later to a fullcourt press in the second half, harassing the Patriots into committing 14 of their 20 turnovers after halftime.

Look was nearly a one-girl wrecking crew as she was fouled on her first 3-pointer and converted a four-point play with 18 seconds left. She hit another 3-pointer on the run from the left wing with one second left. The Pats then called timeout before throwing the inbounds pass to halfcourt as time expired.

“Whew, that was a little close for comfort,” said BC coach Craig Miller. “I wanted that ball to come here, about three-quarters of the way down court because I knew they wouldn’t have a chance to get a shot off if we did that.”

Sophomore center-forward Katie Griffin led Jonesport-Beals with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals. Woodward and sophomore forward Ashten Smith (eight boards) each scored 10 points.

Junior guard Ashlee Page had a good all-around game for BC with 13 points and six rebounds while Heidi Mead and Heather Niles – both starting in place of injured starters Danielle Miller and Andrea Sage – filled in solidly with a combined 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.

PATRIOTS 57, ROYALETTES 56

Jonesport-Beals (3-5) Patriots (6-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Pinkham 3 11 0 0 8 Page 4 16 13

Woodward 3 7 2 2 10 Layton 0 0 0

Griffin 6 20 2 3 14 Mead 4 10 8

Look 2 7 1 1 7 Elliot 0 0 0 0

Emerson 0 1 0 0 0 Niles 2 9 6

Smith 5 9 0 0 10 Seymour 5 13 11

Chandler 0 2 0 0 0 Snow 0 0 1

Carver 3 10 1 3 7 Reitsma 7 18 18

Totals 22 67 6 9 56 22 66 10 15 57

Jonesport-Beals 11 22 38 56

Bangor Christian 14 30 44 57

3-pt. goals ? Jonesport-Beals (6-17): Look 2-3, Woodward 2-4, Pinkham 2-7, Chandler 0-1, Carver 0-2; Bangor Christian (3-9): Page 3-5, Niles 0-1, Mead 0-3

Attendance: 198

Preliminary: Jonesport-Beals JVs 29-24