BANGOR – If you watch enough basketball, you hear coaches yell out the same reminders over and over: Play defense! Box out! Put in those free throws! No fouls! Take care of the ball!

Bangor coach Tom Tennett didn’t have to do much of that in the first quarter of Tuesday evening’s Eastern Maine Class A Northeastern divisional game at Red Barry Gym.

The No. 4 Rams played a textbook game of basketball and ran off two big stretches in the first quarter thanks to rebounding, defense, and free throw shooting to post a 57-34 victory over No. 5 Lawrence of Fairfield.

“We just played so well,” Tennett said. “We couldn’t have played any better. … I’m real pleased with the way the kids have played all year.”

Laura Clarke led Bangor with 20 points and a sparkling 12-for-14 game from the free-throw line as Bangor picked up a berth in the EM Class A quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Rams (14-5) will face Southeastern division No. 1 Cony of Augusta, at 9:40 a.m. Saturday.

Despite leading both teams in scoring, Clarke wasn’t happy with herself after the game. She missed two fast-break layups, but that was just about the only thing that went wrong in the first quarter.

Bangor forced seven turnovers while committing only one. The Rams were 8-for-13 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Bangor forward Katherine Miller had four rebounds (she finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds) while the Bulldogs struggled on the boards.

And Lawrence picked up four fouls in the first 21/2 minutes of the game, which forced the Bulldogs to go from man defense into a 1-2-2 zone. Bangor’s Erinne Magee burned that with two 3-pointers.

So after a 10-0 run to open the game, and a 15-0 run after Allie Marshall scored the only Lawrence basket of the quarter, Bangor was up 25-2.

“That was one of our best playing experiences,” said Bangor point guard Ashley Tower, who had four steals. “It was good to come out strong because that’s what we needed to get momentum throughout the whole game.”

The Rams played their typical zone press and made it hard for the Bulldogs to get inside and finish layup attempts. Lawrence was forced to shoot from the perimeter.

Lawrence coach J.R. Richards said his team’s nerves were to blame.

“We don’t normally miss 12, 13 layups,” he said. “You make half of those, don’t turn the ball over, and it’s an even game. … I don’t think they did anything wrong in the first quarter, not one thing. I don’t think we did much right.”

Magee finished with 13 points. Clarke added five steals and seven rebounds.

Marshall and Dee Dee Rogers led Lawrence with eight points each.

The Rams cooled off in the second quarter and had just one field goal. Miller also got her third personal foul early in the period.

But the Bulldogs continued to send Clarke to the line and she responded by going 6-for-8 in the period. And when Clarke finally made some fast-break hoops in the fourth quarter, she did so with a left-handed flourish.

“I was mad … because of my two missed layups,” she said. “I wanted to win and that didn’t help. Then I just got in a rhythm.”

RAMS 57, BULLDOGS 34

Lawrence (12-7) Bangor (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rogers 3 8 0 0 8 Ogden 0 0 0T

Miller 0 5 1 2 1 Magee 4 7 13

Tingley 1 5 0 0 3 Tower 1 4 2

Marshall 3 9 2 2 8 Clarke 4 10 12 14 20

Noyes 3 9 0 1 6 McLeod 1 6 4

Gurney 1 2 0 0 2 Miller 4 11 12

Casey 1 1 0 0 2 McCrum 1 3 2

Dostie 0 2 2 2 2 Russell 0 1 0

Blodgett 0 0 0 0 0 Johnson 0 2 0

Wright 1 4 0 0 2 Hayden 0 0 0

Clement 0 3 0 0 0 Woodcock 0 0

Robertson 1 4 2

Chase 0 0 0 0

McAllian 1 3 2

Totals 13 48 5 7 34 17 51 21 28 57

Lawrence 2 17 22 34

Bangor 25 36 45 57

3-pt. goals: Lawrence (3-17): Rogers 2-4, Tingley 1-4, Clement 0-2, Miller 0-3, Marshall 0-4; Bangor (2-4): Magee 2-3, Tower 0-1

Attendance: 400 (est.)