BANGOR – With the Bangor girls basketball team playing a defense designed to shut down its star, Presque Isle needed a key score from someone.

The Wildcats got just that from freshman Kylan Smith.

Smith drained a clutch fourth-quarter 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a late cushion and a 37-34 victory over the Rams in a Big East Conference doubleheader at Red Barry Gym.

The Bangor boys picked up their 13th win of the season with a 48-34 victory over Presque Isle. Matt Cassidy led the Rams with 16 points.

PI girls coach Jeff Hudson said he didn’t think the Wildcats had won at Bangor since the 1997 season. Saturday’s victory didn’t come easily.

Bangor opened the game in a box-and-1 defense with starting guard Ilyse Angst guarding Wildcat standout Billi Blanchard. Bangor’s Tara Sullivan came off the bench to help Angst when she got into foul trouble, and the two held Blanchard to six points on one field goal and four free throws.

With Blanchard tied up, Smith hit three 3-pointers for nine points. Her biggest came in the fourth quarter.

Presque Isle had a 29-19 lead during the third quarter, but Bangor’s Laura Clarke scored off a steal, Megan McCrum put back a rebound, and Caroline Weymouth drained a 3-pointer, leaving the Wildcats with a 29-26 lead.

McCrum opened the fourth with a free throw and after a series of turnovers for both teams, the Rams got the ball to Sullivan on the left side for a 3-pointer and a 30-29 Bangor advantage. PI’s Michelle Post hit a jumper to regain the lead, but McCrum made a fast-break lay-up to give Bangor the edge. Blanchard then sank two free throws to allow the Wildcats to go up 33-32.

And with 2:47 left in the game, Smith drained her final 3-pointer from the left side.

“It’s just a matter of screening to get me open,” Smith said. “I try to get to wherever there’s an open spot. It makes me feel better when I make one of those shots. I wasn’t really on tonight, so it made me feel a little bit more confident.”

Post came off the bench to score seven points, and every Presque Isle player who played got into the scoring column.

“All of us have to step up and make it harder for them to play defense because they’re taking out Billi,” Smith said.

PI played man-to-man defense for most of the game and held the Rams as well. Laura Clarke led Bangor with seven points. The Rams forced seven Wildcat turnovers during the third-quarter surge.

“When you’re trying that hard to stop Blanchard, and I think we did a good job with that, somebody else is going to get something and [Smith is] a good player,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “I’m really proud of the way the kids played, but we really missed a lot of easy shots right at the beginning of the third quarter when we where trying to get back into it.”

The Wildcats were disappointed with their offensive effort. Although they went 13-for-29 from the floor for a decent 44.8 shooting percentage, Presque Isle made just seven of 17 free throws.

“Our passes were bad, we weren’t sure of ourselves. We just didn’t have a very good offensive game,” Smith said.

The girls teams observed a moment of silence before the game in remembrance of the astronauts who died in the space shuttle accident Saturday morning.

In the boys game, the Rams jumped out to a 24-9 halftime lead thanks to 12 first-half points from Cassidy.

Bangor passed the ball until Cassidy and Wes Day found the gaps in Presque Isle’s 2-3 zone. Day made two 3-pointers in the second quarter and Cassidy hit several mid-range jumpers near the baseline.

“My games have been good rebounding, a few points here and there,” Cassidy said. “Tonight I think I put it all together. If we get touches in the middle, that opens it up for Wes and Zac [Ray] and it’s a whole team effort.”

Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott said coming out in a zone defense was a coaching misstep.

“They’ve got too much patience and too much perimeter shooting,” he said. “But I thought our man-to-man was good through the rest of the game. [Presque Isle’s] Kyle James did a pretty good job on Zac Ray. It’s nice to watch two kids play hard and be respectful of each other.”

The Wildcats didn’t get within nine points in the third quarter, but Kyle Rideout helped Presque Isle gain some momentum.

The ‘Cats went inside to Rideout, who cut into Bangor’s lead with three baskets. Those six points, plus a short jumper from Fred Bird, made it 29-17.

Cassidy ended the spurt with a basket, but Bird put in two free throws and freshman Greg Whitaker hit a 3-pointer to make it 31-22.

The Rams started the fourth with a 9-0 run, four points of which came on baskets by Ray, who finished with 15 points.

Bird led the Wildcats with 10 points, including a 3-pointer at the final buzzer from about 60 feet out.

Bangor’s man defense forced 14 turnovers, while the Rams committed six.

“You’re never really used to the kind of man-to-man defense Bangor plays,” Prescott said. “You can’t simulate it in practice. You’re playing offense very defensively and maybe in the third quarter we stuck up for ourselves a little better.”

Whitaker had a game-high 11 rebounds.

WILDCATS 37, RAMS 34

Presque Isle (12-1) Bangor girls (5-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Deschene 0 4 1 4 1 Ogden 0 4 0

A. Delong 2 3 0 0 4 Angst 2 2 5

McKenna 1 2 1 1 3 Porter 0 0 0

Post 3 5 1 4 7 Clarke 2 4 3 7

K. Delong 1 3 0 0 3 McLeod 2 3 4

Demerchant 2 3 0 0 4 McAllian 0 0

Smith 3 8 0 0 9 McCrum 2 7 5

Blanchard 1 1 4 8 6 Hayden 1 3 2

Curtis 1 2 1 3

Weymouth 2 5 5

Sullivan 1 3 3

Totals 13 29 7 17 37 13 33 13 34

Presque Isle 14 24 29 37

Bangor 6 15 26 34

3-pt. goals: Presque Isle (4-12): Smith 3-6, K. Delong 1-1, Post 0-1, Deschene 0-4; Bangor (2-3): Weymouth 1-1, Sullivan 1-2

Attendance: 350 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 55-34

RAMS 48, WILDCATS 34

Presque Isle (8-6) Bangor boys (13-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Carlin 0 1 0 0 0 Jor. Heath 0 0

Swanson 0 0 0 0 0 Achorn 1 3 2

James 2 7 2 4 6 Ray 5 11 15

Deschene 0 4 0 1 0 Gallant 0 1 0

Lockhart 1 1 1 1 3 Dowe 0 0 0

Rideout 3 4 0 3 6 Day 3 10 9

Bird 3 10 3 5 10 Prentiss 1 2 2

Whitaker 3 9 1 2 9 Jos. Heath 0 0

Fowler 0 0 0 0 0 K. Flynn 0 2

R. Flynn 1 5 2

Cassidy 8 12 0 16

Totals 12 36 7 16 34 19 48 48

Presque Isle 5 9 22 34

Bangor 12 24 31 48

3-pt. goals: Presque Isle (3-7): Whitaker 2-2, Bird 1-1, Carlin 0-1, Deschene 0-3; Bangor (4-15): Day 3-6, Ray 1-4, Jor. Heath 0-3, Achorn 0-1, Gallant 0-1

Attendance: 400 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 69-48