BANGOR – At one point, Kelsey Curtis said, several Bangor High girls basketball starters relegated to the bench because of foul trouble Friday night wondered if the Rams would hold up in their absence, especially with one of the state’s top post players on the opposing team.

“We’re all looking at each other, we had two fouls apiece, and we were wondering, is this going to be a turning point,” the senior center said after a 12-point effort in Friday’s KVAC North game against Mt. Blue. “But we had faith in our bench and it worked out perfectly. They gave us a boost and made their shots.”

Bangor earned its seventh straight win, a 56-42 victory over the Cougars of Farmington at Red Barry Gymnasium, despite foul trouble for all three of the Rams’ post players as well as a fourth starter.

Amy Hackett added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Bangor, which moves to 7-1. Mt. Blue falls to 6-3.

The Bangor bench didn’t add a lot of offense, but successfully defended 6-foot-3 center Christina Mosher with 6-1 Curtis, 5-10 Tawyna Godinez, and 5-9 Serena Dubois all in foul trouble.

With three starters – along with guard Ilyse Angst – in foul trouble, it came down to backups like Caitlin Smith and Amy Wadleigh as the Rams tried to shut down Mosher.

They performed admirably in the Rams’ 1-3-1 zone. Bangor collapsed on Mosher and held her to seven points on 3-for-7 shooting.

Mosher has been averaging 19 points and 10-12 rebounds per game. She got her boards with a game-high 10 but was held to just seven points.

“Every time a shot went up we had to body on her, absolutely, every time,” Curtis said. “I think we executed that very well.”

Neither Smith nor Wadleigh came close to double figures, although together they combined for 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting to go with eight rebounds.

Bangor coach Tom Tennett went with Godinez in the starting lineup. She’s normally the first forward off the bench.

“We changed our lineup a little tonight and tried to go bigger,” he said. “We played really well. I’m just very proud of the kids. They did a nice job.”

Wadleigh was the first off the bench when Dubois picked up her second foul about 21/2 minutes into the game. Curtis was out with her second foul at the end of the first quarter and Godinez was called for her second foul two minutes into the second quarter.

Angst found herself on the bench with two fouls in the second half.

Wadleigh, who is 5-9, Smith, who is 5-8, along with Emily Heath, Noelle Lincoln and Allie Clukey carried the load.

“I was just ready for anything,” Wadleigh said. “I’ve been told lately that I’m a big person now, or at least I’ve got to work on it, and I just had my mindset on that and played the best I could.”

The Rams were called for just four fouls in the second half.

Bangor’s 13-0 run in the first quarter put the game away early even though Mt. Blue seemed to be a couple of 3-pointers away from getting back into it.

Mt. Blue cut Bangor’s lead to four points in the second half, but offensive-rebound putbacks by Dubois and Wadleigh, along with free throws, helped pump the lead back to 10. The Cougars were without a key player of their own as guard Bonnie Silkman was on the bench with two fouls.

“We threw the ball away and we started to get rattled, and that has to do with Bonnie getting those first two fouls and taking her out of it mentally,” Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Paradis said.

Mt. Blue’s Sarah Fournier hit the first of her three 3-pointers with about 12 seconds left in the second half. Lincoln responded with one of her own about two seconds before halftime.

The Cougars hoisted up 26 3-point attempts, making seven of them. Bangor was faced with trying to guard Amanda Laney (16 points) and Fournier (nine points) on the perimeter in addition to double- and triple-teaming Mosher.

RAMS 56, COUGARS 42

Mt. Blue (6-3) Bangor (7-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Webster 0 6 0 0 0 Angst 1 7 9

Laney 4 17 4 5 16 Heath 0 1 0

Deschens 0 0 0 0 0 A. Hacktt 5 12

Oswald 0 3 0 0 0 Smith 3 4 6

Mosher 3 7 1 2 7 Lincoln 1 2 3

Silkman 4 8 0 2 8 Wadleigh 1 4

Fournier 3 10 0 0 9 Dubois 3 6 6

Allen 0 2 2 2 2 Curtis 5 8 12

Clukey 0 0 0 0

Godinez 2 5 0 4

Totals 14 53 7 11 42 Totals 21 42 12 16 56

Mt. Blue 5 20 33 42

Bangor 13 30 40 56

3-pt. goals – Mt. Blue (7-26): Laney 4-16, Fournier 3-8, Mosher 0-2; Bangor (2-5): Lincoln 1-2, Angst 1-3

JV: Bangor 57-53

Attendance: 250 (est.)