BANGOR – Andy Nickerson couldn’t have asked for much more from his Brewer girls basketball team Thursday night. The Witches played a tough zone defense, they hit shots from the perimeter, and they rebounded right with the taller girls on the Bangor team.

But in the end, the Rams’ defensive effort and free-throw shooting in overtime were too much for Brewer to overcome.

Ilyse Angst and Noelle Lincoln hit key free throws in the extra period and the Rams limited the Witches’ outside shots for a 57-55 victory in a rivalry game at Red Barry Gymnasium.

“We were a little scared,” Lincoln said with a smile. “But we came back. We had to turn it on in overtime.”

Both teams wrapped up their regular seasons Thursday. Bangor (13-5) will wait to find out who it will host in the Eastern Maine Class A preliminary round while the 6-12 Witches awaited the outcome of the rest of Thursday’s games to determine whether they’d make it to the postseason.

With that in mind, Brewer played a determined game against the Rams.

After the game finished tied 44-44 at the end of regulation, Brewer ran out to a four-point lead on an offensive-rebound putback by Leah Jackson (10 points, 15 rebounds) and an Elizabeth Cote jumper. Angst (15 points) responded with a jump shot, but two Cote free throws pumped the lead back to four.

Bangor’s Amy Hackett (13 points) scored to cut the lead to two points with 2:04 left.

Angst made three straight points on a free throw and a long jumper and Lincoln made four straight free throws. Angst had two more from the line with 3.6 seconds left.

The Witches scored five points in the final 12 seconds, including a Jackson basket at the buzzer, but Bangor’s lead was too big.

Lincoln, a perimeter specialist, found her stroke in the third quarter with three 3-pointers en route to 13 points. But her second set of overtime free throws came when she tried to grab the rebound of a 3-point miss by Brewer.

“We just couldn’t give up rebounds,” Lincoln said. “It’s just one of the things we have to do.”

There were 12 lead changes and 10 ties in the first half, but the Witches, who used a 2-3 zone to bottle up the inside against Bangor players like Serena Dubois, Kelsey Curtis, and Tawyna Godinez, took a 21-19 edge into halftime.

“We stayed in the 2-3 zone because it was working, but they started to make some shots,” Brewer coach Andy Nickerson said. “You’re going to give up shots playing in a zone. They made some shots when they needed to.”

It was 22-19 when the Rams went on a 7-0 run, keyed by an Angst basket off a steal and a 3-pointer by Lincoln.

Bangor led 32-30 at the beginning of the fourth.

The Rams went up by five points in the first minute of the fourth, but the Witches made four free throws and Cote converted a conventional 3-point play to regain a 39-38 lead for Brewer.

Dubois hit a free throw to give Bangor a 44-41 lead later in the fourth. But Cote drained a 3-pointer from the left side with 1:59 left, and neither team scored again in regulation.

RAMS 57, WITCHES 55 (OT)

Brewer (6-12) Bangor (13-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Quimby 3 11 1 2 10 Angst 5 16 15

Wilson 2 4 0 1 5 Heath 0 0 0

Cote 6 11 4 5 18 A. Hacktt 5 17 13

Jackson 3 11 4 6 10 Lincoln 3 14 13

M. McLain 0 1 1 2 1 Wadleigh 1 2

J. McLain 2 7 4 6 8 Dubois 1 7 3

Kenney 1 9 1 2 3 Curtis 1 5 6

Clukey 0 1 0 0

Godinez 2 4 1 5

Totals 17 54 15 24 55 18 68 17 32 57

Brewer 10 21 30 44 55

Bangor 11 19 32 44 57

3-pt. goals – Brewer (6-12): Quimby 3-7, Cote 2-4, Wilson 1-1; Bangor (4-20): Lincoln 3-14, Angst 1-6

JV: Bangor 45-41 (OT)

Attendance: 250 (est.)