BANGOR – At one point in the fourth quarter of Monday’s girls basketball game between Bangor and Brewer, the Rams and the Witches were in a skirmish on the floor, trying to gain control of a loose ball.

Somehow, Carolyn McAvoy emerged from the pile with the ball to regain possession for the Witches.

“Holy smokes,” Brewer coach Mark Savage mouthed to two radio broadcasters sitting at the scorer’s table in Red Barry Gym.

McAvoy had a lot of people amazed during the Big East Conference matchup between the cross-river rivals – especially during an 18-point performance in the fourth quarter that carried Brewer to an exciting 62-48 victory.

McAvoy poured in 34 points as the Witches (3-2) earned their first victory over the Rams in several years – McAvoy, a senior forward, cannot remember ever beating Bangor in basketball.

“We get pumped up for a Bangor game every time,” McAvoy said. “This was unbelievable. It feels awesome. … It wasn’t just me out there. Everybody helped.”

McAvoy was 11-for-19 from the field, including a big 3-pointer early in the fourth that gave Brewer some breathing room after regaining the lead from Bangor (2-3).

The Witches had a 36-34 edge going into the final quarter, but Ram freshman Kelsey Curtis made a fast-break basket off a pass from Marissa McLeod to tie the game and Karen Porter drove along the baseline to score and give Bangor a two-point lead.

Brewer’s Stacie Bean made a free throw to cut the lead to one point and McAvoy hit two free throws to regain a 39-38 advantage. McAvoy stuck her 3-pointer about 15 seconds later.

Bangor freshman Ilyse Angst hit a jumper to make it 42-40 about 1:30 into the quarter, but that basket would be the Rams’ last for the next five minutes. The Witches went on a 19-0 run during which the Rams missed five free throws and were called for three player-control fouls.

“We didn’t give them a good look on the other end, we got three player controls, great defense,” Savage said. “It changed the flow of the game.”

McAvoy had 11 points during the scoring burst. She was 5-for-8 from the field and 7-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter.

“McAvoy killed us,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “We knew if we went man she’d give us all kinds of trouble. … Down the stretch she just killed us.”

Brewer’s Amy Freeman had a huge 3-pointer during the scoring surge. McAvoy had missed a free throw, but freshman Katie Quimby rebounded the ball and passed it around to Freeman, who buried a shot from the left wing. The Brewer bench exploded with the 11-point lead.

“We just took over from there,” Freeman said. “They had the height advantage. For us, dominating on the rebounds and pushing on the fast breaks made such a difference.”

Brewer’s Ashley Adams scored 12 points and Katie Harris had eight rebounds.

Clarke scored 15 points for Bangor, including seven in the final 1:13 of play. McLeod added 11 for the Rams.

“We had to keep Clarke and McLeod from shooting and keep [6-foot Alyssa Ogden] off the back boards,” McAvoy said. “I think we did that.”

WITCHES 62, RAMS 48

Brewer (3-2) Bangor (2-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Adams 6 12 0 4 12 Ogden 2 6 6

Quimby 1 1 0 2 2 Angst 1 4 2

Bean 0 7 1 2 1 Porter 1 2 0 2

Freeman 2 7 1 2 7 Clarke 6 12 15

Hamm 0 1 0 1 0 McLeod 5 14 1 11

McLaughlin 0 0 0 0 0 McAllian 0 0

Wing 2 7 0 0 4 McCrum 1 4 0 2

McAvoy 11 19 11 16 34 Hayden 0 1 0

Harris 0 1 2 2 2 Curtis 2 2 7

Weymouth 1 6 2

Sullivan 0 1 1

Totals 22 55 15 29 62 19 57 21 48

Brewer 14 27 36 62

Bangor 10 20 34 48

3-pt. goals: Brewer (3-7): Freeman 2-3, McAvoy 1-2, Bean 0-1, Harris 0-1; Bangor (1-8): Clarke 1-2, Porter 0-1, Weymouth 0-2, McLeod 0-3

Attendance: 300 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 59-25