BANGOR – The Lawrence of Fairfield girls basketball team is off to its best start since a sharpshooter named Cindy Blodgett donned No. 14 in the 1990s.

The Bulldogs showed the resiliency of those teams Wednesday night, withstanding a furious comeback and intense defensive pressure by Bangor while stepping up their own in earning a tough 46-43 overtime victory in a KVAC North clash at Red Barry Gymnasium.

Coach Jason Hight’s club (12-1) led by as many as nine in the first half, but the Rams stepped up their man-to-man pressure in the second half and shot the ball much better.

“Bangor didn’t want to lose this game. They played like a team that was determined to come out of here with a victory,” said Hight, whose team came into the contest ranked second in the latest Heal point standings.

“Every open shot, it seemed like they hit,” Hight added.

Allie Clukey’s free throw with 26.8 seconds left in regulation gave the Rams (10-3) a 39-38 lead, their first since midway through the first quarter.

After Alexa Bernatchez missed a short jumper on the Bulldogs’ next trip, Brogan Liberty was fouled on the putback and made one of two with 12.8 to play to knot it again at 39.

Lawrence had a chance to win in regulation, as Kelli Murray made a steal at midcourt, but Liberty’s buzzer-beater clanked off the rim.

The ‘Dawgs stepped up their defensive intensity in the extra period, taking away the penetration of guards Clukey and Amy Hackett, who had hurt Lawrence throughout the second half.

“They’re their penetrators, they have a split cut that they run. We knew if we could get in front of that and stop that, their offense would be shut down,” said Bernatchez, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

Bernatchez added a pivotal steal with 26 seconds left in overtime and Lawrence clinging to a 45-43 lead.

After Carly Perry sank a free throw with 14 seconds to play, Brooke Hackett’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer rolled off the side of the rim.

Bangor switched from a zone defense to man-to-man in the second half while maintaining its full-court pressure, which gave the Bulldogs some fits and forced them out of their transition game.

“It’s difficult because we had to switch up our offense,” said Liberty, who finished with 10 points.

“At first it kind of threw us for a [loop], but we just bounced back and got right into it,” Liberty added.

The Rams did a good job of not allowing Liberty to work the baselines, while forcing the Bulldogs into occasional backcourt mistakes.

“We weren’t trying to really press to necessarily put a lot of pressure on them,” Tennett said. “It was the kind of pressing to slow them down a bit, try and get steals.”

However, they struggled to find an answer for the shooting of Murray, who scored a game-high 16 points on a sound 6-for-10 shooting from the field.

“Kelli Murray stepped up and had a huge game for us,” Hight said.

Amy Hackett finished with 14 points and six steals for Bangor while Clukey netted nine points. Doucette finished with eight off the bench and Brooke Hackett six.

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BULLDOGS 46, RAMS 43

Lawrence (12-1) Bangor (10-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Melcher 0 0 0 0 0 B. Hacktt 3 6

Gilbert 3 5 0 0 8 Roberts 2 2 4

Perry 1 4 1 2 3 Tocci 0 2 0

Savage 0 1 0 0 0 A. Hacktt 5 11 3 4 14

B. Liberty 4 10 2 3 10 Doucette 3 8

Murray 6 10 2 3 16 Dana 0 0 0

McGee 0 1 0 0 0 Wadleigh 0 0

Crlss-Clrk 0 0 0 0 0 Curtis 0 0 0

Bernatchz 3 13 3 6 9 Clukey 3 10 9

Comstock 1 3 2

Sivik 0 0 0 0

Totals 17 44 8 14 46 Totals 17 43 10 43

Lawrence 12 24 31 39 46

Bangor 8 18 28 39 43

3-pt. goals – Lawrence (4-6): Gilbert 2-3, Murray 2-2, Perry 0-2; Bangor (3-5): Clukey 1-1, A. Hackett 1-1, Doucette 1-1, B. Hackett 0-2

JV: Lawrence 25-24

Attendance: 300 (est.)