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BANGOR – As the Bangor girls basketball team planned for Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class A preliminary game against Brunswick, the Rams talked defense with the expectation that they would have to deal with forward Ashley King.
But King, a senior captain, wasn’t on the roster for No. 11 Brunswick, something the Rams found out just minutes before the game at Red Barry Gymnasium was to start.
It didn’t change anything the No. 6 Rams planned to do. Bangor still used stifling man-to-man defense to shut down the Dragons en route to a 65-30 victory and a berth in the regional quarterfinals.
“We just kind of stayed in the same thing,” said Ilyse Angst, a sophomore guard. “We knew if their best player was out we could step it up and be that much better.”
Bangor, now 15-4, will face No. 3 Lewiston, which beat No. 14 Old Town Tuesday, in a quarterfinal Friday at 3:05 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.
The Rams forced 27 turnovers in the first three quarters, which helped them take a 42-20 lead going into the fourth period.
“We knew pressuring their guards out front would stop them,” Bangor senior guard Laura Clarke said.
The Dragons had 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone.
“[Bangor] came out with some defensive intensity and really wanted to play,” said Brunswick coach Rita O’Connor.
Bangor also threw a 2-3 zone at the Dragons.
Angst’s 14 points led four Bangor players in double figures. She was 5-for-5 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, which was reflective of the team’s excellent offensive numbers.
The Rams hit 20 of their 28 field-goal attempts (52.6 percent) and went 21-of-28 from the line. Clarke (11 points) nailed nine of her 10 free-throw attempts.
Bangor’s Erin Porter scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, but her two first-half hoops were key.
The Rams had a slow start on the offensive end, with just four free throws in the first six minutes of the game. Caroline Weymouth (10 points) finally scored on a fast-break layup and Porter’s driving basket from the baseline made it 8-2.
“We tried to force them to the outside game,” O’Connor said. “[Porter] was kind of an unknown to us and she hit quite a few tonight.”
The Rams, who have had a lot of success this season going inside to strong post players, got just two points from their top three forwards.
But with the guards knocking down jumpers and driving inside to draw fouls, it didn’t matter that the forwards were quiet.
Porter hit a mid-range jumper to open the second quarter and spark an 8-0 run. The Rams went up 18-2 at one point until Brunswick’s Kate Ross hit a 3-pointer with 4:14 left in the second quarter.
Bangor had a 13-point lead at halftime.
O’Connor declined to say why King didn’t play, but said her presence would have made a difference.
“Absolutely,” she said. “She’s a captain and a starter and she plays inside.”
RAMS 65, DRAGONS 30
Brunswick (8-11) Bangor (15-4)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Mills 1 1 0 0 2 Ogden 0 0 0
Bodwell 0 1 0 0 0 Angst 5 5 14
Pelletier 0 0 0 2 0 Porter 5 7 13
Lemieux 4 17 2 2 13 Clarke 1 4 10 11
Ross 0 5 1 4 1 White 0 0 0 0
Hammond 5 9 3 3 13 McAllian 0 0
Breisacher 0 2 0 0 0 Lincoln 2 3 5
Cousins 0 4 0 0 0 Weymouth 4 10
Lobikis 0 0 0 0 0 Webb 0 1 0
Pollock 0 3 0 0 0 Bradford 0 1
Kemmerie 0 1 1 2 1 Curtis 1 2 5
Thebarge 0 1 0 0 0 Dubois 0 3 2
Sullivan 0 1 0
Spires 2 3 0 4
Totals 10 44 7 13 30 Totals 20 38 21 28 65
Brunswick 2 12 20 30
Bangor 10 25 42 65
3-pt. goals ? Brunswick (3-12): Lemieux 3-8, Breisacher 0-1, Thebarge 0-1, Ross 0-2; Bangor (4-6): Porter 2-2, Angst 1-1, Lincoln 1-1, Weymouth 0-1, Bradford 0-1
Attendance: 250 (est.)
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