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BANGOR – In amassing 499 coaching victories at Bangor Christian and Bangor High School, Roger Reed has preached tough defense, aggressive rebounding, pinpoint shooting and patient offense to his troops.
That’s exactly how the veteran head coach got his milestone 500th career victory Saturday evening, as his undefeated Bangor Rams left nothing to chance in handling an undermanned Skowhegan team 63-39 at a packed, noisy Red Barry Gymnasium.
As much as the achievement means to Reed, whose club improved to 16-0, he was quick to point out that his players should always be the ones enjoying the spotlight.
“It’s always been about the kids, not about me,” said Reed. “I tried to get this avoided but they brought it up to me.”
Reed’s players put him in the spotlight.
“He deserves all the credit,” said senior guard Jon McAllian, who electrified the more than 600 in attendance with a highlight-reel slam dunk in the second quarter, taking off a step from the free throw line and jamming home a Ryan Weston miss.
“He’s the beast coach in Maine. He definitely deserves all the wins,” added McAllian, who scored 14 points, all in the first half, on 6-for-13 shooting.
The dunk gave the Rams a 35-13 advantage and only turned up the momentum they had built.
“The momentum was really on our side tonight, especially after Jon got that dunk,” Weston said. “We captured the momentum early and I think that was huge.”
Right from the get-go, it was clear the Rams weren’t going to let their coach, leader and teacher go home one victory short of 500.
Bangor never trailed, and put together runs of 11-0, 11-4 and 12-3 in the first half that buried the 10-6 Indians in a black hole.
“We obviously wanted to come out and get coach Reed’s 500th win, I think that’s what fired us up tonight,” said forward Lee Suvlu, who connected for 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field in the first half.
“We were all playing for coach Reed,” added McAllian.
Weston acknowledged he and his teammates were going to stop at nothing less to help their head coach reach the special milestone.
“I think that was pretty much the theme of the night. We didn’t want to be the team to lose then have to try to go out and do it again,” said the 6-foot-5 senior center, who scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half.
As far as Reed was concerned, the Rams were approaching this game like they do any other.
“Oh yeah, just a regular game,” the coach said. “We were hoping we could come out and play well tonight, we’re still looking to where we’re going to go.”
The Rams dominated the boards while their suffocating defense, forced turnovers left and right, and pressured the Indians into hurried outside shots.
“Coach always says you can never rebound too much, you can never defend too much,” said Weston. “We played good, hard defense, kept them from getting easy shots.”
Skowhegan finished the contest 13-of-50 from the field and 3-16 from beyond the arc.
“That’s our forte. Defense is what we really stress, rebounding and defense,” said Reed. “We’re long and we try to take advantage of our size.”
Another thing Reed emphasizes is teamwork with a balanced offense while trying to get all 15 kids a chance to play on a nightly basis.
Since the Rams built a huge halftime lead, there was no need for Reed to play key contributors such as Weston, McAllian and Suvlu in the second half.
However, no matter what the scoreboard says, the coach will utilize the depth he has on a nightly basis.
“I don’t think of our team as starters, nonstarters,” Reed said. “I think of our team as 15 good players. They’re all capable of going in and playing. They all work hard, they all deserve to play.”
All 15 of Reed’s players saw action Saturday.
While Reed’s coaching career began long before any of his current players were even born, they’re certainly aware what the milestone means to him and of all the great players, such as Joe Campbell and Zak Ray, to don the Cardinal and White before them.
“It’s something special, that’s a lot of wins,” said Weston. “If you start talking about the players that have been on the teams in the past with coach Reed, that’s a lot of good players. To be a part of this history at Bangor means a lot.”
After hearing how much his players wanted to win this one for their coach, he couldn’t help but smile.
“They’re great kids, I can’t say enough about the kids I’ve been able to coach here at Bangor,” Reed said. “That’s nice of them to say that. I’m sure I’m not always that easy to play for.”
Sam Martin came off the bench to contribute eight points for the Rams.
Paul Verville was the lone Skowhegan player in double figures with 11 points.
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RAMS 63, INDIANS 39
Skowhegan (10-6) Bangor (16-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Clark 0 3 0 0 0 R. Larchle 1 2
Derouche 0 5 2 2 2 Frazier 2 3 4
Swanson 0 1 0 0 0 C. Larchle 0 0
Davis 0 2 1 2 1 McAllian 6 13 0 1 14
Sargeant 1 3 0 0 2 Zolper 0 3 0
Boardman 0 1 5 6 5 Edwards 2 2 4
Thistle 3 10 1 3 8 Cox 1 2 2
Taylor 2 6 0 0 4 Suvlu 5 8 15
Saydjari 3 5 0 0 6 Bernstein 0 0
Verville 4 12 1 1 11 Cllrd-Sgin 2 4
Dionne 0 2 0 0 0 Henigan 1 6 3
Hall 0 5 0 0
McDade 4 5 0 8
Martin 0 4 1 1
Weston 2 6 2 6
Totals 13 50 10 14 39 Totals 26 62 14 63
Skowhegan 8 15 26 39
Bangor 26 42 54 63
3-pt. goals – Skowhegan (3-18): Verville 2-8, Thistle 1-4, Derouche 0-2, Clark 0-1, Swanson 0-1, Taylor 0-2; Bangor (4-13): McAllian 2-6, Suvlu 2-3, Zolper 0-2, Frazier 0-1, Hall 0-1
JV: Bangor 44-30
Attendance: 600 (est.)
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