AUGUSTA – Rival coaches have suggested throughout this season that it would take a near-perfect performance to knock off the Bangor High School boys basketball team.

Edward Little of Auburn came close Friday night, but with Ryan Weston and Jon McAllian leading the way, it was the Rams who maintained a perfect record and earned a second straight Eastern Maine Class A championship.

Weston scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and McAllian added 17 points – including three straight 3-point goals in the third quarter – as top-ranked Bangor outlasted No. 2 Edward Little 61-54 in the regional final at the Augusta Civic Center.

The win advances coach Roger Reed’s defending state champs, 21-0 this season and winners of 31 straight overall, to March 1 state final at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland against the winner of the Western A final between Cheverus of Portland and Thornton Academy of Saco.

“This is the fourth time we’ve played them, so we knew they thought they could play with us,” said Weston, whose Rams also defeated the Red Eddies (16-5) twice during the regular season as well as in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game.

“We knew they would come out intense and hard and give us a great game, and they did. Fortunately we were able to execute a little better down the stretch and came out on top,” added Weston.

EL had no answer for Weston on the interior, as the 6-foot-5 senior center made 9 of 12 field-goal attempts. He also contributed four key fourth-quarter free throws.

And it was McAllian who gave the Rams some initial breathing room after Bangor had taken a scant 26-24 halftime lead when Billy Zolper took a long outlet pass from McAllian and beat the second-quarter buzzer with a layup.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard struck for Bangor’s first nine points after the break, all on 3-pointers, to give the Rams a quick boost of momentum and counter two 3-pointers by EL’s Corey Therriault.

“The first half we were struggling to score,” said McAllian, who received the Al Halliday award as the tournament’s outstanding player-sportsman. “I knew I had to come out and put up some shots and score like I usually do, and I got it done.”

Bangor’s lead grew to as much as 44-32 when Weston went inside for a three-point play, then scored on a fast-break feed from McAllian with 1:17 left in the third period.

But at a stage of the game in which Bangor typically has put away its opponents, Edward Little came firing back thanks to Therriault’s offensive exploits and a lightning-quick, four-guard defense that frustrated the Rams with full-court pressure and forced them into a season-high 27 turnovers.

“Edward Little definitely plays the toughest defense of any team we’ve played this season,” said Bangor senior forward Adam Bernstein, who contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. “We were playing pretty well, but they extended our offense to the point where we just couldn’t play, and I’ve got to congratulate them on it because I didn’t expect them to do that, but they did.”

Therriault scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Red Eddies fought back, including a three-point play and two free throws within 24 seconds that pulled EL within 52-48 during a sequence in which Bangor committed three consecutive turnovers.

But the Rams always maintained the slightest of edges, even after EL’s Ben Hartnett hit a 3-pointer and three free throws after being fouled on a subsequent 3-point attempt.

Those free throws, coming after McAllian had scored off a long inbounds pass from Zolper, pulled the Red Eddies within 56-54 with 1:10 left, but Bernstein answered with two free throws seven seconds later to make it a two-possession game. After EL came up empty on its next possession, McAllian added two free throws and Zolper went 1 of 2 from the line to give Bangor the cushion it needed.

“I think we got a little shook,” said Weston, “but when it counted, we settled down, took care of the ball and did what we needed to do.”

Therriault, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, finished with a game-high 27 points for EL, the only team that has come within single digits of Bangor so far this winter – a feat it achieved three times.

“We said it would take a great game to beat them, and we knew that it would,” said Red Eddies coach Mike Adams. “We played a very, very good game, but we didn’t play a great game.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

RAMS 61, RED EDDIES 54

Edward Little (16-5) Bangor (21-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

K. Philbrok 3 17 1 2 7 R. Lrchlle 0 0

Hartnett 2 6 3 3 8 McAllian 6 17

Prue 2 7 2 3 6 Zolper 2 8 3 8

Cirello 0 1 0 0 0 Edwards 0 0 0

Therriault 9 23 5 5 27 Suvlu 1 4 2

Daigle 1 2 0 0 2 Bernstein 3 11

J. Philbrok 2 4 0 0 4 Weston 9 12 23

Sharif 0 3 0 0 0

Totals 19 63 11 13 54 Totals 21 39 14 17 61

Edward Little 14 24 34 54

Bangor 12 26 44 61

3-pt. goals – Bangor (5-12): McAllian 3-5, Bernstein 1-1, Zolper 1-4, Suvlu 0-2; Edward Little (5-18): Therriault 4-12, Hartnett 1-1, Cirello 0-1, J. Philbrook 0-1, Sharif 0-1, Prue 0-2