Hot ‘Dogs avenge loss to Bangor Liberty, Bernatchez keys

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BANGOR – Technically, the Lawrence of Fairfield girls basketball team went into Tuesday’s game against Bangor having beaten Hampden in the one game the Bulldogs played in the last week.

Off the official books, however, the Bulldogs picked up two more wins over standout Cony of Augusta and Messalonskee of Oakland at the noncountable Capitol City Hoop Classic in Augusta during winter vacation.

The tournament victories don’t count, but they’ve given Lawrence a confidence boost.

The Bulldogs displayed that against the Rams Tuesday, holding off Bangor in the fourth quarter for a 58-50 victory at Red Barry Gymnasium.

“It really carried over to today,” said Lawrence senior co-captain Mallorie Blakney. “Hopefully it keeps going. … It’s been a good week.”

Bangor beat Lawrence 43-40 earlier this season.

Although Lawrence’s Brogan Liberty poured in 23 points and the 4-3 Bulldogs got a big night from backup Alexa Bernatchez (15 points, seven rebounds), the Bulldogs’ most impressive stats came at the free-throw line.

The ‘Dogs went 18-for-19 from the line, with Liberty and Bernatchez combining for a perfect 14-of-14.

“The girls are starting to believe in themselves,” Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin said. “Going up to the foul line, they got the job done and that’s huge.”

Bangor had 12 free-throw attempts, making seven.

Liberty hit two free throws with 35.4 seconds left in the game, but things were well in hand for Lawrence by then.

The Bulldogs had a 30-27 lead at halftime but couldn’t shake Bangor (4-4), which tied the game three times in the third. The final tie came courtesy an Amy Hackett jumper in the lane with 1:44 left.

Liberty then hit a fast-break layup and was fouled. She converted the 3-point play, then hit a jumper off a Bangor turnover for a 45-40 lead at the end of the third.

“We knew if we went down and executed on defense, our offense would come,” Liberty said. “We just needed to get defensive stops and do our thing on offense.”

Later in the fourth, Liberty put in a scoop shot followed by a Kelli Murray jumper for a 51-42 edge.

“It seemed like every time they needed a basket, one of their kids stepped up and made it,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “We didn’t do a good job on the boards, and we had too many turnovers.”

Lawrence had a 19-10 lead at the end of the first, but the Rams got back into it with an 8-0 run. Bangor had a brief 26-25 lead later in the second when Amy Wadleigh (11 points) drove the lane after a Bulldog turnover.

Bernatchez put Lawrence back up with two fast-break baskets in the final 1:52. She scored 12 points in the first half.

“She gives us great energy coming off the bench,” Pellerin said.

Tawnya Godinez led Bangor with 13 points. The Bulldogs were wary of both her and Hackett (six points), whom Blakney guarded in Lawrence’s man-to-man defense.

“We wanted to put a lot of pressure on the ball,” Blakney said. “[Hackett] loves to penetrate so we tried to take away middle.”

Tennett wasn’t too concerned about the loss, which came four days after a 51-48 double-overtime victory over state powerhouse Cony.

“I thought we did some good things tonight,” he said, adding, “Lawrence just played very well. They’re on a roll now. They made their shots and that was a big difference.”

BULLDOGS 58, RAMS 50

Lawrence (4-3) Bangor (4-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Blakney 2 3 3 3 7 Anslmno 0 0 0

Gilbert 3 6 0 0 6 B.Hackett 3 6

Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 Heath 0 3 0

Perry 0 0 0 0 0 A.Hackett 3 6

B. Liberty 7 17 9 9 23 Smith 3 7 6

Murray 1 3 1 2 3 Hartley 0 1 0

Nickerson 2 8 0 0 4 Wadleigh 5 11

Crlss-Clrk 0 0 0 0 0 Clukey 1 2 8

Bernatchz 5 10 5 5 15 Godinez 6 11 13

Totals 20 47 18 19 58 Totals 21 44 12 50

Lawrence 19 30 45 58

Bangor 10 27 40 50

3-pt. goals – Lawrence (0-2): Gilbert 0-1, Murray 0-1; Bangor (1-5): Clukey 1-2, B. Hackett 0-1, Heath 0-2

JV: Bangor 39-33

Attendance: 200 (est.)