BANGOR – Coming into Thursday’s basketball game against unbeaten Orono, 3-point shooting was a sore subject with senior guard Chere Wickstrom.

“Yeah, I’ve been having some trouble,” Wickstrom said with a laugh. “I kind of lost my confidence for a while, but I’m starting to get it back.”

Wickstrom left little doubt about that as she hit three of her first five 3-point attempts and four overall en route to a game-high 20 points while leading her Crusaders past the Red Riots 48-29 at the Bangor Auditorium.

“Yeah, we had heard she wasn’t shooting too well, so we sagged off her early, but that didn’t work too well,” said Orono coach Tim Baude, whose Riots are now 5-1. “I guess our scouting report needs some work.”

Not really. John Bapst coach Mike Webb said it’s just a matter of Wickstrom making some minor adjustments and gaining confidence.

“It’s like playing golf, I guess. I think she’s kind of had a case of the yips,” Webb explained. “Nobody’s really been talking about it, but we worked with her in practice and noticed her elbow out a little too far. She was just in a slump, but she came out of it today.”

As important as Wickstrom’s offense was, it was her team’s defense that was the main reason for the lopsided margin of victory.

“We had our hands up and we were on our toes and ready,” said Bapst senior Taylor Greenlaw. We were really anticipating passes well, too.”

The 6-1 Crusaders came out in a fullcourt press and halfcourt trap defense that totally befuddled the Riots, causing five turnovers in the first half and fueling a 14-0 run to start the game.

“We’ve seen presses before, but this was by far the best we’ve seen this year,” Baude said. “We didn’t get back and help as much as we should and we were kind of flat-footed. Our intensity was a lot better in the second half, but we just couldn’t overcome that first quarter.”

Bapst built the lead to 29-8 before Orono regrouped in the third quarter and used a 10-2 run to make it a 13-point game, but it would never be close than 14 points the rest of the way despite Bapst foul trouble that landed starters Hillary Laferriere and Lauren Nichols on the bench with four apiece in the third quarter.

Wickstrom had a great all-around effort with five rebounds, four steals and two assists. The Crusaders committed just seven turnovers to Orono’s 11 – eight of which came in the first half.

Four Crusaders had at least five rebounds as Bapst outrebounded Orono 31-29.

Greenlaw also had a solid effort for Bapst with 11 points and three rebounds. Laferriere had six rebounds before fouling out 35 seconds into the final quarter. Nichols had six points, five boards, two assists and a steal.

The Riots were led by Emily Sypher, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

CRUSADERS 48, RED RIOTS 29

Orono (5-1) John Bapst (6-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Colbath 1 6 0 0 2 Jordan 1 1 3

Young 1 5 0 0 2 Freeman 1 7 2

Artesani 2 6 2 4 7 Maquillan 0 1

Bates 0 0 0 0 0 Nichols 2 6 6

Starno 1 4 2 3 4 Greenlaw 4 11

Robertson 0 2 0 0 0 Wickstrm 7 20 2 3 20

Balaban 1 3 0 0 2 Wadleigh 0 0

Hanson 0 0 0 0 0 Havnevik 0 0

Sypher 4 10 3 5 11 McGuan 1 3 2

Woodbrey 0 4 1 4 1 Hardy 0 1 1

Pavento 0 3 0 0 0 Gibson 0 0 0

Laferriere 1 2 2

Totals 10 43 8 16 29 Totals 17 46 15 48

Orono 5 8 18 29

John Bapst 21 26 35 48

3-pt. goals – Orono (1-4): Artesani 1-3, Starno 0-1; John Bapst (5-10): Wickstrom 4-9, Jordan 1-1

JV: John Bapst 45-37

Attendance: 200 (est.)