BANGOR – The Bangor boys basketball started off with hot shooting, and the Rams finished that way against Nokomis in an Eastern Maine Class A semifinal Friday night.

Bangor’s Wes Day drained a 3-pointer from the right side with about nine seconds left in the fourth quarter to lift No. 2 Bangor to a 58-54 victory over the No. 6 Warriors of Newport at the Bangor Auditorium.

The win puts the 19-1 Rams into Saturday night’s Eastern Maine final against No. 1 Brunswick, which beat No. 5 Brewer in Friday’s other semifinal. The Dragons are the defending state champions.

Nokomis finishes its season at 14-7. Four of those losses came against Bangor.

The Rams were 3-for-4 from the free-throw line after Day’s big shot to seal the win. Aaron Gallant, who racked up a team-high 18 points, had two free throws and Mr. Basketball finalist Zak Ray had one.

But it was Day’s 3-pointer that brought Bangor back. The Warriors had a 54-52 lead after Luke Hayden drove for a basket with 53.1 seconds left in the game.

After a frenzied series of turnovers, Nokomis called a timeout with 27.9 remaining. The teams got back to the floor and set themselves, but the Warriors turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. Day grabbed the loose ball, and the Rams worked the ball to Ray.

Ray went to penetrate inside, which pulled a defender away from Day. Ray got the ball back to his fellow senior, who was on the right wing.

“It all happened because Zak got someone’s attention,” Day said. “… I happened to relocate in the right spot and he just hit me at the right time. I barely got it off but it felt good as soon as it left my fingers.”

Nokomis still had a chance with a one-point Bangor lead, but the Warriors lost the ball again after an inbounds play with about six seconds remaining.

“We go back to the out-of-bounds play, all we [have to] do is get it in, they just foul us, [we] hit our free throws down the stretch,” Nokomis coach Jim DiFrederico said. “We struggled getting it in. That’s the bottom line.”

Ryan McLellan had a stellar offensive game for the Warriors. He finished with 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting and made 5 of his 8 3-point attempts – several of which he took from at least 25 feet out.

“He was absolutely incredible shooting the ball,” said Ray, who had to guard his off-court pal. “I never expect him to pull up from way out there, that far away from the basket. It was just incredible.”

Day racked up 17 points and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Ray scored 10 points and had seven assists.

The two teams combined for 13 3-pointers.

Hayden finished with 12 points and eight rebounds despite early foul trouble.

Both teams came out shooting. The Rams made the first five shots they took en route to a 14-9 lead, and did not miss a shot until a Ray 3-point attempt went off the rim. Day capped the first quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Bangor was 8-for-11 in the first quarter.

“Both teams in the beginning,” said Ray, shaking his head. “… We’re a pretty good shooting team but we never expect anything like that.”

The Rams had a 37-26 lead early in the third quarter but the Warriors went on an 11-0 run fueled by two huge McLellan 3-pointers that he shot from at least 27 feet out. He also hit a jumper off a David Buzanoski steal, and Seth Bradstreet hit a long two-pointer to tie the game.

“We were just getting people open and they were knocking shots down,” DiFrederico said.

Bangor answered with a five-point rally for a 44-41 lead at the end of the third.

Nokomis took the lead three times in the fourth quarter.

RAMS 58, DRAGONS 54

Nokomis (14-7) Bangor (19-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rodrigue 1 4 0 0 2 Jor.Heath 2 8

McLelllan 10 20 0 2 25 Achorn 0 0 0

Bradstreet 2 5 0 0 5 Ray 4 8 10

Dunlop 0 0 0 0 0 Gallant 5 11 18

Buzanoski 3 4 1 2 7 Dowe 0 2 0

Hayden 6 12 0 0 12 Day 6 11 17

Mullis 1 4 1 2 3 Prentiss 2 5

Derosa 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 49 2 6 54 19 40 13 16 58

Nokomis 16 26 41 54

Bangor 22 34 44 58

3-pt. goals ? Nokomis (6-13): Rodrigue 0-2, McLellan 5-8, Bradstreet 1-3; Bangor (7-16): Jor. Heath 2-5, Ray 1-3, Gallant 0-3, Day 3-5