BANGOR – Walking through a hallway leading to his team’s locker room at the Bangor Auditorium Friday night, Bangor boys basketball coach Roger Reed summed up his team’s game with John Bapst in a way that some of the 200 or so people who attended the game may have been thinking.

“We set basketball back 100 years tonight,” Reed said with a laugh.

And the coach could afford to laugh a little. The Rams beat the Crusaders of Bangor 45-22.

But Reed wasn’t laughing in the second quarter when his team turned the ball over nine teams, including four consecutive possessions.

And he wasn’t laughing at halftime when the 8-1 Rams led 17-7. This is a team with the firepower to have a player or two with 17 points in a half.

“I don’t know what it is, if it’s hard for the kids to get up for the game or we just can’t come down here and play consistently. We didn’t play consistently here [Wednesday night against Nokomis of Newport] and we didn’t play consistently tonight,” Reed said.

Meanwhile, the 0-8 Crusaders were having an even more difficult time offensively. John Bapst turned the ball over 18 times in the first half and managed only three field goals.

“Offensively, both teams struggled,” John Bapst coach Jason Mills said. “I guess you could attribute a lot of that to good defense. [Bangor’s] experienced. They’re veteran. Eventually they’re going to hit shots.”

And they did. But it appeared to take a John Bapst basket to get the Rams going. Four minutes into the third quarter Bangor had scored only two points and led 19-8.

That’s when John Bapst sophomore Kyle Ferrill rolled off a screen to the top of the 3-point line and nailed the shot. While the Crusaders celebrated (it was their only 3-pointer of the game and one of just six field goals they would make), the Rams came alive.

Senior Wesley Day countered with his only basket of the game, a 3-pointer and sophomore Aaron Gallant followed on the Rams’ next possession with a runner in the lane.

“[Reed] was a little unhappy with our turnovers and the way we were shooting the ball. Once we settled into it in the second half, we began to execute,” Gallant said.

Bangor’s Mike Prentiss, known primarily for his defense, turned offensive for the Rams in the fourth quarter, scoring six of his eight points. The modest junior attributed it to “just being in the right place at the right time,” but two of his baskets came after he battled for offensive rebounds.

“The reason he plays is he’s so athletic,” Reed said. “He’s hard-nosed, tough, and goes in there and does a great job.”

Prentiss also had seven rebounds, and Bangor senior point guard Zak Ray had 12 points and four steals.

Junior Means finished with seven points for John Bapst before fouling out late in the game.

RAMS 45, CRUSADERS 22

Bangor (8-1) John Bapst (0-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jo. Heath 0 0 0 0 0 Leavitt 0 1 0

Achorn 1 3 0 1 2 Snyder 0 3 1

Ray 3 6 5 5 12 Francis 0 1 2 2

Gallant 3 8 2 2 8 Freeman 0 4 0

Dowe 0 0 2 2 2 Means 2 7 3 7

Conteh 0 0 3 4 3 Ferrill 2 7 5

Prentiss 4 10 0 0 8 Lyon 0 0 1

Larochelle 0 1 0 0 0 Roach 1 2 2

DeRosa 0 1 2 2 2 Bromley 0 0 0

Ju. Heath 0 1 1 2 1 Myerowitz 0 2

K. Flynn 0 0 0 2 0 Nason 0 1 0

R. Flynn 2 3 0 2 4 Gray 1 1 2

Cassidy 0 1 0 1 0

Weymouth 0 0 0 0 0

Day 1 6 0 0 3

Totals 14 40 15 23 45 Totals 6 33 15 22

Bangor 13 17 26 45

John Bapst 3 7 13 22

3-pt. goals: Bangor (2-8): Day 1-2, Ray 1-2, Achorn 0-2, R. Flynn 0-1, Gallant 0-1; John Bapst (1-3): Ferrill 1-1, Freeman 0-1, Leavitt 0-1

Attendance: 200 (est.)