BANGOR – For 31 minutes and 50 seconds Monday night, the John Bapst boys basketball team was sparked by its strong inside play.

But with the game on the line, the Crusaders went outside – way outside – to force overtime and pull away to a 67-60 victory over Old Town in a Class B matchup at the Bangor Auditorium.

A 3-point shot by Aaron Healey and a 35-foot 3-pointer by Derek Smith as the fourth- quarter buzzer sounded rallied John Bapst from a late five-point deficit, and Healey hit another 3-pointer to cap off a 7-0 run to start overtime as the Crusaders handed Old Town its first loss.

Both teams are now 3-1.

“That’s why you play for 32 minutes,” said John Bapst coach Jason Mills. “I was disappointed that we had a four- or five-point lead for a lot of the third quarter and fourth quarter and then we had a lot of unforced turnovers. They played good defense, but we were trying to score off one pass and they’re too good, you’re not going to do that. We weren’t patient enough.

“But we kept battling, and that gave Derek a chance to hit his shot.”

John Bapst scored the final six points of the second quarter to take a 28-23 halftime lead, and led by seven early in the fourth quarter.

But the Crusaders couldn’t put the Coyotes away, and Old Town scored 10 unanswered points midway through the period to take a 45-42 lead. Dillon Shorey started the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws, and sophomore guard Luke Bartlett then hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Coyotes their first lead of the second half and followed that with two free throws to extend the margin to three with 1:29 left.

Old Town still had a 50-45 lead when Evan Paradis made a free throw with 16 seconds left, but Healey hit a 3 from the key with nine seconds remaining before the Coyotes’ Ethan Shanley countered by making the first of two free throws to make it 51-48 with five seconds left.

Shanley missed the second attempt, and Smith grabbed the rebound and dribbled down the right side of the court before launching the game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.

“I was thinking about it when I was getting ready to box out, whether I should kick it out to [point guard] Kyle Gallant and let him bring it up or just see what I could do,” said Smith. “There were only five seconds left, so I took it down.

“I knew it was on target. I didn’t know if it was going to go long or short, but I knew it was straight toward the rim.”

John Bapst scored the first seven points of the overtime, as Healey sandwiched two free throws and a 3-pointer around a layup by Ethan Cushman as the Crusaders took a 58-51 lead.

Old Town got as close as 64-60 on a follow-up basket by Shanley with 29 seconds left, but Healey made a free throw and a basket off a missed free throw in the final seconds.

“We were behind for almost 30 minutes and the kids did a great job in those last few minutes to take the lead, but they came over to the bench like they had lost the game on [Smith’s] shot,” said Old Town coach Marty Clark. “I think if we had scored quick in the overtime we might have bounced back, but then we got behind quick and it was hard to come back.”

Healey finished with 20 points, 16 after intermission, for John Bapst, while Cushman scored 18 points and Smith had 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior center Charlie Merritt added 10 points for the Crusaders.

“I think a lot of people focus on our inside game because Ethan’s 6-7 and Charlie’s a big boy, so they might overlook our outside game,” said Healey. “But we’ve got a heck of a point guard and great shooters all around, kids who keep their heads. They stepped up big in this game.”

Shanley led Old Town with 18 points, while Bartlett scored 11 and Paradis had 10 points and six steals.

CRUSADERS 67, COYOTES 60 (OT)

Old Town (3-1) John Bapst (3-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bartlett 2 9 6 6 11 Gallant 1 4 3

Boucher 0 3 0 0 0 D. Smith 4 12

Paradis 4 6 2 4 10 N. Smith 0 0

Hussey 1 2 2 2 4 Bragdon 1 1 2

Ba 1 9 2 3 4 J. Gagnon 1 3 2

Shorey 3 6 2 2 9 Healey 6 14 20

Merry 0 0 0 0 0 Merritt 4 5 10

Ziegenbein 2 5 0 1 4 Cushman 7 14 18

Wilkens 0 0 0 0 0

Shanley 7 12 2 3 18

Totals 20 52 16 21 60 Totals 24 49 16 30 67

Old Town 12 23 33 51 60

John Bapst 13 28 36 51 67

3-pt. goals – Old Town (4-16): Shanley 2-3, Shorey 1-2, Bartlett 1-4, Boucher 0-3, Ba 0-4; John Bapst (3-6): Healey 2-5, D. Smith 1-1

JV: John Bapst 46-33

Attendance: 250 (est.)