SOUTH PARIS – The road provided the Bangor boys basketball team a rude awakening Friday night as Oxford Hills shot 52 percent from the field and whipped the Rams 67-53 in a clash of Class A powers.

“We were a step slower and they were a step quicker,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed, whose team was playing its first countable game of the season away from Red Barry Gymnasium. “There’s no excuses. They played a total game and completely outplayed us tonight.”

Oxford Hills (4-1) never trailed after senior forward Leif Kothe hit a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter to give the Vikings a 7-5 lead. By the end of the period, the margin was 13-7, and by intermission it was 30-18 – a difference that would have been greater except for a 3-pointer from midcourt at the end of the half by Bangor’s Anthony DeRosa.

The Rams (4-1) got no closer than 11 after the break, as a quicker Oxford Hills team continued to shoot effectively both from long range and on slashing forays toward the basket. The Vikings made 24 of 46 field-goal tries, and shot at least 50 percent in each quarter.

“We did a good job of taking it to the hoop and opening up the outside shot,” said Kothe. “These guys play good defense, but we set good screens and got our shooters open.”

Kothe led Oxford Hills with 18 points on an 8-of-11 effort from the field.

Senior guard Matt McDonnell added 16 points, while Thomas Kothe – Leif’s twin – came back after missing a game due to an ankle injury to score 10 points. His return was highlighted by a banked 3-pointer from the left wing midway through the third quarter, part of a 12-0 blitz that gave the Vikings a 44-22 lead.

“We didn’t take real bad shots,” said Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam. “In some games when teams put good pressure on like Bangor does we hurry our shots and don’t take good shots, we fade away. Tonight we actually got some screens set and got some open looks, and we hit some early shots and that made a difference.”

Bangor, meanwhile, struggled with its open looks early, and shot just 28 percent (8 of 28) in the first half while falling into a double-digit deficit.

Junior forward Mark Socoby paced the Rams with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four blocked shots, while sophomore forward Alex Gallant scored 14 points in his first varsity start and senior guard Aaron Gallant scored eight points.

“We played really well defensively tonight,” said Graffam. “[Bangor’s] got some players who are very talented, and I don’t think you’re going to stop Socoby and [Aaron] Gallant by yourself, so we had to play help-side, and we did that for the most part.”

Alex Gallant started because Bangor had to play without senior point guard Jordan Heath, who according to Reed, is expected to miss 3-5 weeks due to mononucleosis.

That wasn’t the only challenge Bangor faced even before this game began. Oxford Hills, the preseason pick as the top team in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, was still smarting from a 61-47 loss at Brunswick on Tuesday.

“This was a week we saw early in the schedule that was going to be big because Bangor and Brunswick are supposed to be two of the top teams in the East,” said Leif Kothe. “Then we lost to Brunswick, so we had to play like this was the big one, which we did.”

And there were the memories of the teams’ last meeting, a 50-26 Bangor victory in the 2004 Eastern A semifinals.

“We just wanted this one,” said McDonnell. “We’ve been waiting for this one for a while. We just matched their intensity and played the way we’re capable of playing.”

VIKINGS 67, RAMS 53

Bangor (4-1) Oxford Hills (4-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Francis 0 2 0 0 0 Estes 0 0 0

Jellison 1 2 0 0 2 McVety 0 1 1

Aa. Gallant 4 16 0 0 8 L. Cothe 8 11 1 1 18

Socoby 6 16 6 8 18 Powell 2 3 9

Suvlu 2 3 0 0 4 DeCato 2 4 5

DeRosa 3 5 0 0 7 Saunders 2 6

Al. Gallant 7 13 0 2 14 McDonnell 6 15 3 5 16

Trundy 0 1 0 0 0 Cash 0 0 0

T. Cothe 4 8 10

Ryerson 0 2 2 2

LaPlante 0 0 0

Totals 23 58 6 10 53 Totals 24 46 13 17 67

Bangor 7 18 31 53

Oxford Hills 13 30 46 67

3-pt. goals – Bangor (1-5): DeRosa 1-2, Jellison 0-1, Aa. Gallant 0-2; Oxford Hills (6-17): T. Cothe 2-5, L. Cothe 1-2, Powell 1-2, DeCato 1-2, McDonnell 1-6

JV: Bangor 60-41

Attendance: 750 (est.)