Inside play lifts Rams by Witches Bangor’s Dubois gets a double-double in win

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BREWER – Serena Dubois and the Bangor girls basketball team’s play inside was too much for cross-river rival Brewer to handle in Wednesday night’s Big East Conference matchup.

Dubois had game-highs in points (16) and rebounds (19) as the Rams earned a 43-34 victory at the high school gym.

Bangor moves to 13-2 with three games left on the regular-season schedule. Brewer falls to 5-10.

The Rams swept the three-game season series, something they couldn’t do last year. Wednesday’s nine-point margin was Bangor’s largest of the season against Brewer.

Kelsey Curtis added eight rebounds off the bench, and Alyssa Ogden had six more as the Rams tried to exploit a big height advantage.

“We were looking to go inside a lot once we saw they couldn’t handle us,” Dubois said. “We knew [from the last time Bangor played Brewer] that we had to go inside because we tried our perimeter game and it didn’t work.”

Although the Rams led almost the entire way, Bangor wasn’t able to put away Brewer until the middle of the fourth quarter when the Rams made some free throws down the stretch. Bangor didn’t score a field goal in the final 5:26 but did go 7-for-11 from the stripe in that span.

Caroline Weymouth and Dubois helped give Bangor a 10-point lead earlier in the fourth, when Dubois drove into the lane for a jumper and Dubois went inside for a basket, drawing a foul. She couldn’t convert the free throw, but the Rams had a 34-24 edge.

The Witches stayed in it thanks to good shooting and Bangor defensive lapses. Amy Freeman hit a 3-pointer after Dubois’ basket, and later in the period Katie Quimby drained a 3-pointer to cut Bangor’s lead to 38-32 with 1:10 left.

“We were just a basket or two away from making things interesting,” Brewer coach Mark Savage said. “A roll, a break here or there and this was winnable.”

Ram senior Laura Clarke responded with four free throws in the final minute.

Clarke also had nine rebounds, and Weymouth and Angst combined for nine more.

“They hurt on the boards bad,” Savage said. “They’re just so much bigger. Serena’s just so strong to the hoop.”

Brewer forwards Kim Alberding and Jordan McLain combined for 16 rebounds.

Weymouth drew the tough defensive assignment of guarding Freeman, who can be a slippery shooter. Clarke was on Quimby, another outside threat.

“I wasn’t supposed to help anyone,” Weymouth said. “I wish I had stayed with her a little more, but some of the screens I couldn’t quite fight through.”

Freeman, a senior, finished with 13 points, but she went 6-for-18 from the floor.

Neither team will likely be pleased with its free-throw shooting. The Rams went 13-for-29 overall while the Witches made six of their 15 shots.

RAMS 43, WITCHES 34

Bangor (13-2) Brewer (5-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ogden 1 5 2 3 4 Quimby 4 15 13

Angst 3 9 1 3 7 DeFilipp 1 2

Porter 0 0 0 0 0 Baker 0 0 0

Clarke 0 12 6 8 6 Cote 0 1 1

Weymouth 2 11 2 8 6 Chapman 0 1 0

Webb 0 2 0 0 0 Freeman 6 18 0 13

Curtis 1 2 2 4 4 Alberding 1 3

Dubois 8 18 0 3 16 McLain 1 1 2

Corey 0 1 0 0

Totals 15 59 13 29 43 13 47 15 34

Bangor 10 18 28 43

Brewer 7 12 22 34

3-pt. goals ? Bangor (0-8): Angst 0-2, Clarke 0-3, Weymouth 0-3; Brewer (2-12): Quimby 1-8, Freeman 1-3, DeFilipp 0-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)

JV: Bangor 62-37