December 23, 2024
HIGH SCHOOL REPORT

Bangor girls expect test against Gardiner

It’s not Hampden or Brewer or another big rivalry, but there’s plenty of excitement among the members of the Bangor girls basketball team as the Rams get set to test their seven-game winning streak when they host Gardiner tonight at Red Barry Gymnasium. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Tigers, who are 7-2, are one of the toughest teams Bangor will face this season. The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference team is not exactly a traditional rival for Bangor, but the Rams know it’s an important matchup.

Gardiner was seventh in the most recent Eastern Maine Heal Point standings. Bangor was second.

“It’s a huge game for us,” junior Caroline Weymouth said during Thursday’s practice. “It’s going to be a tough one. The KVAC is always tough. We’re just going to go out and play our game and be tough.”

Gardiner is coming off a 52-39 loss to Skowhegan (8-1). The Tigers dropped a 60-48 decision to 8-0 Lewiston earlier this season.

Bangor’s loss came against Hampden, but the Rams avenged that a few weeks later in the season.

The Rams will look to stop sophomore forward Becky Dixon, who has been one of the Tigers’ top scorers and rebounders this year. Allyce Pepin, Laura Nimon, and Emily Loughlin have also been scoring threats for a Gardiner team that went 13-5 last year with several freshmen in the starting lineup.

“Coach [Tom Tennett] went down and saw them,” Weymouth said. “They’re a young team, but he said they’re pretty good, so we’ll have to be on our toes. … We’re just working on everything. We’ve got the physical. We just need to get the mental stuff down.”

The Rams’ results so far this year represent a big turnaround from last year’s 6-12 finish in the regular season. They’ve been winning without a big-time scorer, but instead rely on a balanced offense, tough defense, and clutch bench play.

“We have a lot of team chemistry this year,” junior center Alyssa Ogden said. “We do a lot together. Everybody’s OK with their playing time, their scoring. Everybody goes in and knows what to do.”

Ogden is now back with the team after missing a few games with a broken index finger. Ogden started until her injury and sophomore Kelsey Curtis has been filling in since.

“Kelsey is doing a good job for us and I feel like I contribute off the bench,” she said.

Turns out the bench is a good place to come from as the Rams have had key contributions from their substitutes. Every night, it seems, a different Bangor player makes a difference.

“The depth is crazy,” Weymouth said. “It makes a big difference.”

Littlefield set to earn 400th win

Another milestone awaits Valley of Bingham boys basketball coach Dwight Littlefield – 400 wins.

The Cavaliers’ 27th-year head coach has a chance to reach that plateau Friday night when unbeaten Valley plays Averill/Alfond School at Hinckley.

Win No. 399 came Wednesday, when the Cavaliers defeated Richmond 65-28.

Valley is on a state-record run of six consecutive Maine Class D championships, and since the start of the 1997-1998 season the Cavaliers boast combined record of 137-1, including a state-record 101 straight victories between 1997 and 2002.

The Cavaliers have had five undefeated seasons over the last six years, with the only blemish a regular-season loss at Piscataquis Community High of Guilford late in the 2001-02 campaign.

Since arriving at Valley in 1977, Littlefield has a coaching record of 399-106, a .790 winning percentage. In addition to the six Gold Balls, his teams have won eight Western Maine championships and 18 East-West Conference titles.

This year’s club enters Friday’s game with a 10-0 record, and features 10 players back from last year’s team, which defeated Bangor Christian 58-46 in the 2003 state championship game.

Leading the Cavaliers is senior point guard Mark Gaudet, who scored 19 points in the win over Richmond; 6-foot-5 sophomore Travis Hovey; and junior forward Lucas Melcher.

Averill is 1-12 after a 68-56 loss to Islesboro Tuesday night.

MDI-Hermon girls postponed

Saturday night’s Class B girls basketball game sending Mount Desert Island to Hermon has been postponed because of a death in the family of Trojans athletic director Alfred “Bunky” Dow.

Tragically, Dow’s son Jonanthan was killed in an automobile accident on Thursday.

The game has not been rescheduled.

Correction: A shorter version of this column ran in the State edition.

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