BANGOR – After getting swept by their cross-river rivals last season, the Bangor girls are now two-thirds of the way through returning the favor this season.

Bangor followed up a vengeance win Tuesday over Hampden Academy, the only team to beat the Rams this season, with a 40-28 victory over Brewer Thursday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

“I think it was one of those games, after a big emotional win over Hampden Tuesday, that could be a trap game,” said Bangor coach Tom Tennett. “We had a terrible practice last night and you could almost see it coming.”

Especially after the third quarter ended. Christie Chapman, who hadn’t played in the first half, rebounded a missed shot and laid it in at the buzzer to move the Witches within three points (27-24) of the Rams.

But then the Rams redoubled their effort on the boards and scored three straight baskets on offensive rebounds – two by sophomore Serena Dubois – to help fuel an 11-3 game-ending run highlighted by Laura Clarke’s 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:45 left.

“I think when we had that run where Serena made a couple of put-backs and Laura made a big ‘3,’ that kind of broke their back,” said Tennett.

“Clarke’s 3-pointer was a big shot. That really put us in a big hole,” said Brewer coach Mark Savage.

Bangor’s senior guard finished with a game-high 17 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

“I think Laura had her best game of the year tonight,” Tennett said. “She provided a lot of senior leadership tonight as well as doing a great job defensively for us.”

Equally important was Clarke’s offense and defense on Katie Quimby, who was held in check with six points and three boards before fouling out with 31/2 minutes left.

“They played us pretty tough. We just had to settle down and attack the boards,” Clarke said. “I was fortunate enough to have a good game, and Serena got a couple big shots for us after they got close.”

Dubois finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Brewer outrebounded Bangor 36-35, but committed 23 turnovers – 15 in the first half.

“We have two freshmen in the mix there and I was very pleased with our effort,” said Savage. “The turnovers hurt us. We did a better job in the second half, but we were rushing a little bit at times.”

Bangor had 20 turnovers.

“It looked like it was going to get away from us, but we were able to settle down and make some shots when we needed them,” said Clarke.

Amy Freeman paced the 2-6 Witches with 11 points, and Kim Alberding turned in a solid, all-around performance with 11 rebounds and four steals.

“I think this is one to build on,” Savage said. “Bangor’s a very good team and we did a good job on them defensively.”

RAMS 40, WITCHES 28

Bangor girls (7-1) Brewer (2-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Angst 0 5 2 2 2 Quimby 2 7 6

Porter 0 2 1 2 1 DeFilipp 0 0

Clarke 6 17 4 5 17 Cote 0 1 0

White 0 0 0 0 0 Corey 0 2 0

McAllian 0 1 0 0 0 Chapman 1 1 3

Weymouth 3 10 0 4 7 Freeman 4 16 11

Webb 0 1 0 0 0 Alberding 0 5 1

Bradford 0 1 0 0 0 McLain 3 6 7

Curtis 1 1 2 2 4

Dubois 4 14 1 2 9

Sullivan 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 14 52 10 17 40 10 40 11 28

Bangor 9 23 27 40

Brewer 1 16 24 28

3-pt. goals ? Bangor (2-3): Weymouth 1-1, Clarke 1-1, Porter 0-1; Brewer (1-6): Quimby 1-2, Freeman 0-4

Attendance: 300 (est.)