BANGOR – When opposing basketball teams face the Bangor Rams this season, they often have to make strategic decisions that are essentially gambles.

Mt. Blue of Farmington, with little height to match up against Bangor’s much taller lineup, tried a half-court zone defense Tuesday night, but the Rams merely went over the top to dominate the rebounding action en route to a 65-35 victory over the Farmington-based Cougars at Red Barry Gymnasium.

The reigning Class A state champions (9-0) outrebounded Mt. Blue 42-17 en route to their 19th straight victory overall since losing at Mt. Blue on Jan. 20, 2007.

Adam Bernstein grabbed 13 rebounds, 10 in the second half when Bangor outscored Mt. Blue 27-10 to put the game away. Ian Edwards grabbed seven rebounds – six on the offensive glass.

“When they’re in a zone like that, you just try to get good position because they don’t really know where you are,” said Edwards. “But as far as this whole season goes, we’ve had a lot of offensive rebounds and turned them into points, and I think that’s been a catalyst for our offense.”

A defensive catalyst on this night was a halftime lecture by Bangor coach Roger Reed after Mt. Blue had stayed within 38-25 at intermission largely on the basis of a 9-of-11 effort from the free-throw line and just six turnovers.

“I was disappointed at halftime with our defense in the second period,” said Reed. “I just thought we didn’t help enough, we didn’t pay attention to where the ball was enough. I just wasn’t very happy, and I let them know it.”

While Mt. Blue scored 18 points in the second quarter, it managed just four points over the first 14 minutes, 46 seconds of the second half and just 10 total points over the final two periods.

Mt. Blue, now 5-3 after having its five-game winning streak halted, shot just 17 percent (4 of 23) from the field after intermission and 26 percent (11 for 41) for the evening.

“We were more tenacious, more intense in the second half,” said Reed. “We helped each other, we hedged the screens better, and we just paid attention to where the ball was.”

That second-half defensive effort was particularly focused on guards Jamie Sawyer and Ben Russell, who combined for 18 first-half points but scored just two points after the break.

“We did a better job against them in the second half,” said Reed. “We probably wore them out a little bit because they had to work hard to get open, but they’re both good players.”

Bangor managed just five points in the third quarter, but the Rams put the game away by scoring the first 17 points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 60-29.

Jon McAllian, who scored a game-high 15 points, opened the fourth quarter by making two free throws and then throwing a skip pass that set up a 3-pointer by Lee Suvlu. Suvlu (12 points) then scored in transition before McAllian made a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Bangor a 53-29 lead.

A layup by Ryan Larochelle and a three-point play off an offensive rebound by Sam Martin extended the run, which was capped off by a fast-break basket by Nate Frazier with about two minutes left in the game.

Suvlu finished with 12 points for Bangor, while Edwards and Bernstein scored seven points each.

Sawyer finished with 12 points while Russell scored eight for Mt. Blue.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

RAMS 65, COUGARS 35

Mt. Blue (5-3) Bangor (9-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gilbert 1 7 3 6 5 R.Lrochlle 1 2

Hoyt 0 3 0 0 0 C.Lrochlle 1 2 2

Trask 0 1 0 1 0 McAllian 5 14 2 2 15

Sawyer 4 10 4 5 12 Zolper 2 6 4

Russell 3 8 0 0 8 Edwards 3 4 7

Backus 0 0 0 0 0 Suvlu 5 8 12

Berry 0 1 0 0 0 Bernstein 3 7

Kobischen 1 2 2 2 4 Clrd-Segn 0 0

Simpson 0 4 2 2 2 Henigan 0 1 1

Zamboni 0 2 0 0 0 Hall 1 2 4

Malone 2 2 0 0 4 McDade 0 1 0

Wiles-Rsll 0 1 0 0 0 Martin 1 1 3

Weston 3 5 0 6

Frazier 1 3 0 2

Cox 0 1 0 0

Totals 11 41 11 16 35 Totals 26 63 16 65

Mt. Blue 7 25 29 35

Bangor 15 38 43 65

3-pt. goals – Mt. Blue (2-8): Russell 2-2, Gilbert 0-1, Hoyt 0-1, Simpson 0-2, Zamboni 0-2; Bangor (6-24): McAllian 3-10, Suvlu 2-3, Hall 1-2, Bernstein 0-1, Cox 0-1, Collard-Seguin 0-2, Frazier 0-2, Zolper 0-3

JV: Bangor 73-46

Attendance: 425 (est.)