Weston, Bernstein propel Bangor to 10th

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HAMPDEN – Bangor and Hampden Academy have provided some of the more competitive and high-quality matchups in Class A boys basketball of recent vintage.

But not Thursday night.

Senior center Ryan Weston had the soft shooting touch working, and senior forward Adam Bernstein led a dominance of the backboards that propelled unbeaten Bangor to a 64-36 romp that really wasn’t even that close.

“We know when we come here that they’re going to be gunning for us and the crowd’s going to be right into it,” said Weston, who scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds. “We wanted to do everything we could to keep the crowd out of the game, just play our game, keep our tempo and play great defense, and I think we did that tonight.”

Weston made 9 of his 11 field-goal tries, mostly short jumpers set up by accurate entry passes into the lane.

“Our guards were making great passes to me tonight,” Weston said. “They were knocking down shots and giving me great looks, and when the guards are passing like that it really makes my job easier.”

And when either team missed a shot, Bangor (10-0) scooped up the rebound – outboarding the smaller Broncos by an astounding 43-12.

“We had no answer for their inside game,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett. “Coming into the game we knew that would be a problem, and to prepare for their inside game and have them still be that dominant is disappointing for me because it’s my job to prep us and get us ready, and what we prepped didn’t stop them or even slow them up.”

No one was more aggressive on the glass than Bernstein, who secured a game-high 14 rebounds and now has 27 in Bangor’s last two games.

“We always try and crash the boards hard,” said Bernstein, “and that’s what we should be doing because we’re so much bigger than everyone else. We try and set the tone with our rebounding.”

Hampden (5-5) hung around for the game’s first six minutes, pulling within 10-7 on a 3-point goal by senior guard Brad Haase.

But Bangor ran off the game’s next 12 points and an 18-2 run overall in extending its lead to 28-11 late in the first half.

Weston had 16 points before the break, while senior guard Jon McAllian added a pair of 3-point goals en route to 10 first-half points as the Rams held a 28-13 lead at intermission.

Bangor then scored seven unanswered points to open the third quarter, and later extended its lead to as much as 32 points.

“We moved the ball well, we were very unselfish and made great passes,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed. “We rebounded the ball well and played pretty good defense, so I was pretty happy with the way we played tonight.”

Senior forward Justin Brown led Hampden with 11 points and Haase scored nine, but the Broncos were unable to establish an inside attack and as a result shot just 34 percent (14 of 41) from the field.

“We always try to deny the passing lanes,” said Bernstein. “Brad Haase is a great shooter, so we were trying to help a little bit less off him and just keep him from getting hot outside.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

RAMS 64, BRONCOS 36

Bangor (10-0) Hampden Acad. (5-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

R.Lrochlle 1 2 2 2 4 Hersey 0 3 0

C.Lrochlle 0 0 0 0 0 Burke 1 1 5

McAllian 4 11 0 0 10 Turner 0 0 0

Zolper 1 2 1 2 3 White 0 0 0

Edwards 1 3 0 0 2 Evans 1 2 3

Suvlu 2 6 2 4 6 Moore 1 5 2

Bernstein 1 3 2 2 4 Haase 3 11 9

Clrd-Segin 0 4 0 0 0 Juco 1 2 2

Henigan 1 2 3 4 5 Burditt 0 3 0

Hall 0 0 1 2 1 Perry 1 2 0 2

McDade 0 0 2 2 2 Workman 0 0 0

Martin 0 0 1 2 1 Brown 5 10 11

Weston 9 11 4 7 22 Morey 1 2 2

Frazier 0 2 0 0 0

Cox 2 2 0 0 4

Totals 22 48 18 27 64 Totals 14 41 36

Bangor 19 28 46 64

Hampden Acad. 9 13 24 36

3-pt. goals – Bangor (2-13): McAllian 2-5, Bernstein 0-1, Frazier 0-1, Collard-Seguin 0-2, Suvlu 0-4; Hampden Acad. (4-11): Burke 1-1, Brown 1-1, Evans 1-2, Haase 1-6, Moore 0-1

JV: Bangor 60-52

Attendance: 500 (est.)