AUGUSTA – With every basket forward Alex Gallant made during the second half of Friday night’s Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball final, the “Mr. Basketball” chant grew louder and louder.

Sure, the source was biased, but the Bangor High student section was not without evidence to back their case, as Gallant outscored Messalonskee of Oakland 18-17 in the second half by himself to lead the Rams to a 53-36 victory and their first regional championship since 2003.

Bangor (20-1) will return to the Augusta Civic Center next Saturday to face the winner of today’s Western A final between Portland and Cheverus of Portland in the state final.

Gallant, one of 10 semifinalists for the state’s Mr. Basketball award, finished with 24 points and nine rebounds as second-ranked Bangor defeated No. 5 Messalonskee for the third time this season.

“We got Alex going after a while,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “He’s been a horse for us. He had some great looks early and didn’t cash in on all of them, but he was tough when he had to be.”

Gallant’s offensive heroics, which included scoring all 10 of Bangor’s fourth-quarter points, were complemented by a smothering defensive effort by Bangor in the second half that quelled a strong start by Messalonskee center Eric Taylor (14 points, 12 rebounds). That defense also triggered a transition game that enabled the Rams to emerge from a 31-31 tie by outscoring the Eagles 22-5 during the game’s final 10 minutes.

“We really turned it up on defense,” said Gallant. “We knew we had to get those defensive rebounds because Taylor is an awesome rebounder. We had to box out and not let them get any second shots, and once we got the rebounds, we had to push it so they couldn’t set up in their zone.”

Gallant scored eight points as Bangor ended the third period on a 12-0 run to take a 43-31 lead.

“They got a good lead, and then they kind of steamrolled the rest of the game,” said Taylor. “Once you get in a hole against Bangor, it’s hard to claw your way back. They’re a good ball team, and when they get a lead they tend to keep it.”

Messalonskee’s Orlando Holmes – contained for most of the night by Bangor’s Adam Bernstein – opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to momentarily slow the Rams’ momentum, but the Eagles scored just one more basket, a tip-in by Taylor with 4:31 left.

Gallant, meanwhile, scored on a drive, made two free throws, and then one-handed a thunderous dunk off a feed from point guard Troy Jellison good for a 49-36 lead with 3:12 left.

“Al loves dunking. He’s all about dunking,” said Jellison. “The ball got loose on the ground, and I got it and saw Al out of the corner of my eye. I saw him breaking, and I sort of flipped it over the shoulder to him and he rammed it down.”

Junior center Ryan Weston added eight points and seven rebounds for Bangor, while Jellison had six points, six assists, and four steals. The Rams also got solid contributions from Bernstein, Lee Suvlu (six points, four in the third quarter), and off the bench from Ian Edwards and Billy Zolper.

Taylor had 11 points and five offensive rebounds in the first half as Messalonskee stayed within 23-19.

Bangor threatened to break the game open in the second quarter, scoring nine straight points to build a 23-15 lead as Jellison made a drive and took a steal in for a layup, Bernstein hit the Rams’ lone 3-pointer of the night, and Gallant scored off a high-low feed from Weston.

But eight second-quarter turnovers by Bangor helped Messalonskee hang around, and when reserve center Ryan Haggan hit a follow-up shot with 1.2 seconds left in the half, the Eagles were within four.

“We had a few too many turnovers in the first half, and coach really gave it to us at halftime to pick it up on defense, so we decided we were going to come out and get after it,” Jellison said. “Their press didn’t bother us as much in the second half, and we were able to run our plays.”

Despite struggling at the free-throw line – where Messalonskee made just 6 of 15 tries on the night – the Eagles came out solidly after intermission and rallied to a 31-31 tie on a follow-up shot by Matt Natole with 2:41 left in the third quarter.

It was enough to make Reed call time, but not enough to make the Rams panic.

Gallant immediately powered his way along the baseline for a three-point play and followed that with a 15-foot jumper that gave Bangor a five-point edge.

Weston then scored off a lob feed from Edwards, and Zolper made a fast-break layup to extend the Bangor lead to 40-31 and prompt a Messalonskee timeout with 52 seconds left in the period.

Edwards then forced a Messalonskee turnover and fed Gallant for a layup, and Gallant added 1 of 2 from the line after grabbing an offensive rebound in the final second of the period to give the Rams a 43-31 cushion entering the game’s final eight minutes.

RAMS 53, EAGLES 36

Messalonskee (16-6) Bangor (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Berndt 0 1 0 0 0 Crews 0 0 0

Brann 0 1 0 0 0 Jellison 3 6

Pelletier 0 0 0 0 0 McAllian 0 0

Bernier 0 0 0 0 0 Zolper 1 1 2

Hutchinsn 0 0 0 1 0 Edwards 0 2 0

Gilbert 0 0 0 0 0 Suvlu 2 6 6

Natole 3 10 3 7 9 Bernstein 2 5

Ouellette 0 3 0 0 0 Webb 0 0 0

Dubois 3 7 0 0 7 Gallant 8 16 11 24

Holmes 1 7 1 2 4 Chase 1 2 2

Taylor 6 15 2 5 14 Martin 0 0 0

Haggan 1 1 0 0 2 Weston 4 7 8

Totals 14 45 6 15 36 Totals 21 42 10 13 53

Messalonskee 13 19 31 36

Bangor 14 23 43 53

3-pt. goals – Messalonskee (2-11): Dubois 1-2, Holmes 1-2, Brann 0-1, Ouellette 0-2, Natole 0-4; Bangor (1-4): Bernstein 1-1, Jellison 0-1, Suvlu 0-2