BANGOR – They were down so far, it seemed improbable they’d come back.

But opening night of the high school basketball season – when hopes are still high and freshman centers aren’t supposed to get key minutes yet – anything can happen.

It did Friday, as the Bangor girls basketball team started off its season against 2006 Eastern Maine Class A runner-up Skowhegan at Red Barry Gymnasium.

Tawnya Godinez and the Bangor girls rallied from a seemingly impossible 21-point deficit in Friday night’s opener to stun the Indians 74-65.

Godinez led the Rams with 21 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter as Bangor mounted its furious comeback.

“We have so much heart,” said junior guard Amy Hackett, who scored 12 points. “We’re not that tall, so we have to work harder for everything. That’s where we come in with a lot of heart and passion.”

That was on display in the third period when the Rams, who also got 13 points from defensive standout Allie Clukey, outscored the Indians 28-13.

Bangor freshman center Stephanie Comstock added 10 points, including the go-ahead basket after an offensive rebound with 40.9 seconds left in the third quarter. Comstock entered the game when Godinez got into foul trouble.

“Every single one of them came through,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “I can’t say enough about the character of this team. And Skowhegan played so well. [The first quarter and into the second] was as good a stretch as you can play.”

The Indians, who have been the regional runner-up three straight years, buried the Rams so quickly that it took Bangor nearly 12 minutes to reach the 10-point mark, and even cutting Skowhegan’s lead in half with 3:08 left in the second period seemed like a minor marvel.

Things continued to look down when starting forward Caitlyn Smith left the game 2:32 before halftime. She twisted her ankle running into a Skowhegan player on the baseline and falling to the floor. Casey Hartley, who was sick with the flu, told Tennett she could play and took Smith’s place.

Rather than fold under Skowhegan’s long-range shooting – the Indians knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game – and their own struggles, the Rams slowly came to life. Clukey had two baskets in the final 1:07 and Bangor cut Skowhegan’s lead to 37-25 at halftime.

“That was kind of key,” Tennett said. “At least we got it somewhere manageable.”

The Indians did their best to squelch the Rams after halftime when Lindsey Pinkham (13 points) immediately hit a 3-pointer followed by two Bethany Sevey (17 points) free throws, but again Bangor started to chip away as its zone defense, with Clukey on top, started to wear down the Skowhegan guards. The Indians had 13 second-half turnovers.

“We got them tired, outworked them,” Amy Hackett said. “Playing the zone really helped. It had a lot to do with Allie out front; getting pressure on their guards forces them to make passes the rest of us can anticipate.”

Godinez drained four jumpers, including two 3-pointers, in a 14-2 Bangor run that sliced Skowhegan’s lead to 44-39.

After Godinez picked up her fourth foul, Tennett inserted Comstock. She was quiet offensively at first, but the rookie was big in a 9-0 run, sparked by an Emily Heath 3-pointer, as Bangor claimed a 51-48 lead. Sevey answered with an 18-footer, but Comstock scored off a Brooke Hackett pass at the buzzer.

Comstock may have caught the Indians a bit off-guard.

“The ball came from the point to the wing and they would automatically go out to the wing and leave me all alone by myself,” she said. “… I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did.”

Bangor went on a 10-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter and made free throws to seal it.

The Indians tried both man and zone defenses, but foul trouble meant Skowhegan had to back off a bit.

“We didn’t make enough stops to win,” Indians coach Heath Cowan said. “Offensively we scored, we just turned the ball over too many times and didn’t make enough stops. [Foul trouble] kind of took away our momentum.”

Skowhegan’s Megan Smith, who along with Sevey was named All-Maine honorable mention last year, had 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Caitlyn Smith did not return and was planning to have an X-ray after the game, Tennett said.

RAMS 74, INDIANS 65

Skowhegan (0-1) Bangor (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Sevey 5 19 6 6 17 B.Hackett 1 4

Pinkham 5 9 0 0 13 Dana 0 0 0

Matchett 3 7 3 4 11 Heath 2 6 6

Ma. Smith 0 0 0 0 0 A.Hackett 3 11 12

Milligan 0 0 0 0 0 Smith 2 4 6

Atkinson 0 1 0 0 0 Hartley 1 2 2

Lambert 2 2 0 0 6 Clukey 4 5 13

Me. Smith 4 7 5 7 13 Comstock 5 10

Brown 1 3 0 0 2 Godinez 7 12 21

Evans 1 2 1 3 3

Totals 21 50 15 20 65 Totals 25 46 21 33 74

Skowhegan 22 37 50 65

Bangor 5 25 53 74

3-pt. goals – Skowhegan (8-22): Pinkham 3-6, Lambert 2-2, Matchett 2-6, Sevey 1-8; Bangor (3-6): Godinez 2-3, Heath 1-3

JV: Bangor 29-26

Attendance: 200 (est.)