Unbeaten Rams run by Devils Bangor shows balance

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BANGOR – Most of the up-tempo opportunities enjoyed by the Bangor High boys basketball team so far this season have been confined to practice, as opponents have sought to shorten games with longer-lasting possessions.

The Rams finally got a chance to run Friday night and sprinted past Lewiston 85-62 in a Class A matchup at Red Barry Gymnasium.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Bangor senior center Ryan Weston, who scored a game-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds. “We practice transition every day, we know when we want to push and we know which lanes we want to fill, so it was kind of nice to be able to do that.

“We didn’t play as well on defense as we wanted to, but we took what they gave us, we pushed the ball well, the guards were hitting shots and making great looks inside and we were able to finish.”

Bangor (5-0) won its first four games by an average score of 58-38, but it became apparent early that Lewiston (2-3) wanted to accelerate the pace and attempt to beat the taller Rams down the court.

That worked for a while, as Blue Devils’ guard Jarrid Palmer made three 3-pointers and scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the game’s first 10 minutes. He later fed Chuck Falestra for a 3-point goal that gave Lewiston a 26-23 lead with 5:20 left in the opening half.

Bangor countered by working the ball inside to the 6-foot-5 Weston, who scored eight of his team’s next 12 points as the Rams regained a 35-32 lead.

“We scored at will when we went inside, and I said that we were really playing into their hands by coming down and making one pass and taking the shot,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “I just thought we weren’t working to our strength until we went inside.”

Weston then fed junior guard Ryan Larochelle for a 3-pointer, and Larochelle then added a shot from the lane before senior guard Jon McAllian closed out the half with a follow-up basket that gave Bangor a 42-33 advantage.

“We played fast but we came out kind of flat,” said Bangor senior Billy Zolper, who contributed 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. “There was a timeout with about three minutes left in the first half, and we got in the huddle and said we were going into the half up by 10 right here, and we ended up going up by nine.”

Bangor took control in the third quarter. Zolper dominated the rebounding action, and Weston and senior forward Adam Bernstein were offensive keys before Larochelle made a fast-break layup that capped off a 12-2 run good for a 54-35 lead.

Then senior guard Lee Suvlu took over, driving to the basket to score 10 of his 17 points over the final three minutes of the period as the Rams took a 69-48 lead into the fourth quarter.

“When we started the game we rushed things, but in the second half we played our game instead of theirs,” said McAllian.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

RAMS 85, BLUE DEVILS 62

Lewiston (2-3) Bangor (5-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

R.Larochll 3 3 0 0 7 West 3 11 7

C.Larochll 0 0 0 0 0 Palmer 5 18 15

McAllian 6 16 0 0 12 Myers 0 2 1

Zolper 6 14 1 3 13 Brooks 2 4 4

Edwards 1 4 0 0 2 Bailey 2 6 5

Suvlu 6 11 3 5 15 Turner 4 8 9

Bernstein 2 6 0 0 4 Ahmed 4 4 8

Clrd-Sguin 1 2 0 0 2 Gardner 1 5 4

Henigan 1 2 0 2 2 Eldridge 0 0

Hall 2 4 2 2 6 Mohamed 2 5 0 4

McDade 1 1 0 0 2 Falestra 2 5

Martin 0 0 0 0 0 Hersi 0 1 0

Weston 8 12 2 2 18

Cox 0 0 0 0 0

Frazier 1 3 0 0 2

Totals 38 78 8 14 85 Totals 25 67 19 62

Lewiston 14 33 48 62

Bangor 23 42 69 85

3-pt. goals – Lewiston (6-16): Palmer 3-10, Bailey 1-1, Falestra 1-1, Turner 1-2, Mohammed 0-1, West 0-1; Bangor (1-7): R. Larochelle 1-1, Edwards 0-1, Zolper 0-1, Hall 0-1, McAllian 0-3

JV: Bangor 71-38

Attendance: 400 (est.)