BANGOR – It wasn’t a typical victory for the John Bapst girls basketball team.

The Crusaders, who have relied on their dangerous inside duo of Hillary Laferriere and Samantha Gormley, tried that route against Caribou Thursday afternoon. But the Vikings did a good job of bottling up the post, which meant Bapst had to find another way to stay undefeated.

Senior guard Eve Jordan came up with some big shots and sealed the game at the free-throw line late as the Crusaders earned a 35-25 victory in their home opener at the Bangor Auditorium.

Jordan, who finished with a game-high 11 points, and Laferriere said they were feeling a little tired from Wednesday night’s 47-38 win over Central of Corinth, but 5-0 John Bapst looked fired up early in the third quarter with a 9-0 run.

“They really did take us out of our game until the third quarter,” John Bapst coach Mike Webb said. “We just had a nice start and a good run, which gave us some confidence. We came out, put a little half-court trap on, and they disrupted them a little bit. We got some steals out of that.”

The Crusaders had a 16-14 halftime lead when Gormley opened the third quarter with two free throws. Morgan Chasse extended the lead when she scored a fast-break basket off a steal, followed by a Gormley putback.

“We wanted to work hard and start off the third by setting the tone for the rest of the game,” said Jordan, who converted a Caribou turnover by knocking down a 3-pointer for a 25-14 lead.

The Crusaders aren’t known for their outside game – and instead rely on Laferriere and Gormley, who are both strong post players – but they knew they had to find other options.

“Once [Caribou] started triple-teaming me, we had to work on penetrating and dishing to take people off me instead of getting the ball inside,” Laferriere said.

The Vikings (3-2) whittled it down to 26-22 in the fourth, but Jordan drove inside for a basket with 3:32 left and Jordan was 5-for-7 from the free-throw line in the final 3:10.

Bapst and Caribou, which are among the top defenses in the Big East Conference, both played primarily man-to-man defense to great effect.

The Vikings’ defense collapsed on Laferriere, who was averaging about 17 points per game, and held her to eight points on 2-for-4 shooting. The Crusaders struggled with turnovers trying to force the ball inside.

But Caribou also had trouble holding on to the ball, with 20 turnovers. When the Vikings were able to set up their offense they didn’t shoot well, going 8-for-36 from the floor.

“[The defense was] what we were hoping for,” Caribou coach Bill Schofield said. “We were also hoping to score at least 37, 38 points. When you can’t put the ball in the basket, no matter how hard you play defense, you’re not going to win. We’d get an opportunity, then we’d get a turnover. That killed us.”

Kristen Espling led Caribou with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

990-8193

CRUSADERS 35, VIKINGS 25

Caribou (3-2) John Bapst (6-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bossie 0 0 0 0 0 Jordan 2 4 11

Collins 0 0 0 0 0 Chasse 3 9 6

Schofield 0 0 0 0 0 Myerowtz 0 0

Ouellette 0 4 1 4 1 Hardy 0 0 0

Espling 3 9 2 2 9 Moriarty 1 2

Richards 1 4 2 4 4 Maquillan 0 2

Cyr 1 9 0 0 2 Estes 0 2 0 0

King 1 4 1 1 3 Gormley 1 1 4 6

Selander 2 6 2 2 6 Laferriere 2 8

Bell 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 8 36 8 13 25 Totals 9 26 16 24 35

Caribou 7 14 19 25

John Bapst 10 16 26 35

3-pt. goals – Caribou (1-11): Espling 1-4, King 0-1, Cyr 0-6; John Bapst (1-5): Jordan 1-2, Chasse 0-1, Myerowitz 0-1, Maquillan 0-1

JV: John Bapst 39-16

Attendance: 150 (est.)