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AUGUSTA – One challenge of a deep basketball team is how best to capitalize on that depth.
For the Bangor High boys basketball team, the answer availed itself just in time Saturday, as the Rams focused on inside play after intermission to subdue Leavitt of Turner Center 66-49 in an Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
The win advances No. 2 Bangor (18-1) to a regional semifinal Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 3 Mt. Blue of Farmington, now 16-3 after a 69-48 win over No. 6 Gardiner on Saturday.
Senior forward Alex Gallant had 24 points and five rebounds in Bangor’s first quarterfinal victory in the last three seasons, and junior center Ryan Weston added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
That duo represented a collective force Leavitt couldn’t handle once the Rams committed themselves to attacking the middle of the Hornets’ defense.
Gallant, in particular, was a dominant presence, making 10 of 17 field-goal tries overall, 6 of 9 in the second half.
“We did a lot of high-lows trying to get the ball to Alex,” said junior forward Adam Bernstein, who came off the bench at the outset of the third quarter to provide the Rams an additional spark.
“No one in the state can really guard him, and he and Weston do a really great job down low, so we just worked it to Weston at the foul line and gave it to Alex in the block and he did his thing.”
Tenth-seeded Leavitt (10-10) shot 50 percent from the field in building a 27-25 halftime lead, but Bangor ran off the first 11 points of the third quarter, six by Gallant as he scored twice from the low post and once after grabbing an offensive rebound of a missed Weston free throw.
As the big men stepped forward, Bangor’s perimeter players got more aggressive defensively, with junior swingman Lee Suvlu and senior point guard Troy Jellison each taking a steal in for a layup during the decisive run as Bangor surged to a 36-27 lead.
“Defense was where we picked up our intensity,” said Suvlu, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds. “And then I told Alex, ‘Put us on your back.’ He’s been the man all year, and he was again today.”
Gallant scored 10 points in a third quarter that ended with Bangor holding a 47-33 lead. The Rams shot 10 of 15 from the field in the period compared to 2 of 14 for Leavitt.
“We thought we could get better shots than we got in the first half,” said Weston, “Inside’s been where we’ve needed to get the ball all year because that’s where we can get our best shots and our highest-percentage shots, so that’s where we went in the third quarter and it worked out for us.”
Bangor stretched its lead to as much as 63-36 when Sam Chase made two free throws and then a 3-pointer to cap off another 11-0 run.
“I thought we played much better as far as teamwork in the second half,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “We moved the ball well, we were patient, we looked inside. We ran some things that got the ball to the big guys and played off them a lot. I thought we did what we had to do and I was pleased we did it.”
Leavitt began the game showing no signs of the controversy that engulfed the program when coach Mike Remillard was fired on Jan. 31 after delivering what school officials determined was an inappropriate halftime speech to his players.
The Hornets had gone 3-1 under new coach Christian Gurney since then to earn their trip to the quarterfinals, then came out and had immediate success hitting medium-range jumpers over Bangor’s defense to grab their two-point halftime lead.
“I thought that was an athletic team, and under the circumstances they’ve endured this year they did a good job getting here,” said Reed. “I was surprised at how good they were when I went down and watched them play [in a 67-59 preliminary-round win] at Brunswick. They were a better team than their record shows, for sure.”
Senior forward Cam Angell led the Hornets with 19 points, while guard Eric Berry added 10.
RAMS 66, HORNETS 49
Leavitt (10-10) Bangor (18-1)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
T.Caldwell 0 1 0 0 0 Crews 0 3 2
Taylor 1 2 0 0 2 Jellison 1 2
Berry 3 6 3 5 10 McAllian 0 0
Angell 7 15 3 4 19 Zolper 2 3 4
Z.Caldwell 0 0 0 0 0 Edwards 0 1 0
M. Nash 4 11 1 1 9 Suvlu 6 8 14
Millett 2 7 4 4 8 Bernstein 2 4
Crosby 0 0 1 2 1 Webb 0 1 0
Gagne 0 2 0 0 0 Gallant 10 17 24
D. Nash 0 2 0 0 0 Chase 1 3 5
Martin 0 0 0 0
Weston 4 6 2 10
Larochlle 0 0 0
Cld-Sguin 0 0 1
Totals 17 46 12 16 49 Totals 26 52 12 17 66
Leavitt 17 27 33 49
Bangor 12 25 48 66
3-pt. goals – Leavitt (3-13): Angell 2-7, Berry 1-1, Taylor 0-1, Millett 0-1, Gagne 0-1, M. Nash 0-2; Bangor (2-10): Chase 1-1, Suvlu 1-3, Crews 0-1, McAllian 0-1, Zolper 0-1, Edwards 0-1, Webb 0-1, Gallant 0-1
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