BREWER – Despite a slight wobble in the first quarter, the Bangor girls basketball team put up a dominating effort Wednesday night in a matchup against Brewer at the high school gym here.

Once the Rams righted themselves, they worked their inside and outside games and played their usual suffocating defense in the 77-29 victory and a season sweep of the Witches.

Bangor senior Alison Smith worked through first-half shooting struggles to post 14 points in the third quarter en route to a game-high 24. She also had 11 rebounds.

The Rams, who were coming off Saturday’s loss to Big East Conference-leader Nokomis of Newport, are now 12-2. Brewer falls to 6-9.

Smith scored her first basket off of Terra Curtis’ opening tip and Bangor got the ball inside to the 5-foot-9 forward early, but Smith was unable to finish her shots.

Brewer took advantage. The Rams had a 5-4 lead when Rachel Wing hit a jump shot for the Witches and Jenny Higgins made a free throw as Brewer went up 7-5 with 3:57 left in the first.

“We were changing up our defenses and doing some different things and I think it confused them early,” Brewer coach Tim Thornton said. “Then when we went to straight man-to-man, that made it real easy for them because then they started penetrating and making some foul shots. When we penetrated and got good shots or attempts, we missed our foul shots.”

Bangor’s Melissa Achorn tied it up on a jumper from the left wing to start an 8-1 run, Katherine Miller scored inside to regain the advantage for the Rams.

Smith finally heated up in the third quarter, going 6-for-9 from the floor. She converted two conventional 3-point plays in the final two minutes; on both of those she scored the field goal by putting back a missed shot. She scored two baskets by rebounding her own misses.

“We were so focused on our intensity, especially our defensive intensity,” Smith said. “I know I was so up that I wasn’t focused on finishing.”

Bangor has made its reputation this season on its zone press, and Rams executed that well again Wednesday night. The press and the 1-3-1 zone forced turnovers and limited the Witches to 11 field goals and 34 attempts. Brewer scored just four points in the third quarter.

Senior Erica Prudente, a 5-foot-2 guard, started the second half to give the Rams a defensive spark and help Bangor finish strong – something the Rams have not always done despite their record.

“We knew we wanted to step it up on defense in the third quarter and come out really strong because we always have the problem of not coming out strong in the second half,” she said. “We seem to ease up and we wanted to keep taking it to them, and on defense we did. Then our shots started falling.”

Bangor’s starters came out for the entire fourth quarter (except for Sarah Michaud, who started but picked up two quick fouls and sat for much of the game). The Rams’ bench scored 19 points.

Bangor benefited from a well-rounded offense, with Curtis scoring 12 points and Frazier adding 10. Eight other players scored at least two points apiece.

The Rams also shot well from long distance, going 7-for-15 from 3-point range.

Higgins led the Witches with 14 points, including a 6-for-11 effort from the floor. Laura Crosby and Caroline McAvoy scored four points apiece.

Rams 77, Witches 29

Bangor (12-2) Brewer (6-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Prudente 0 2 0 2 0 Adams 0 0 0

Tower 2 3 1 1 5 Capponi 0 0 0 0

Achorn 2 5 0 2 4 Bean 1 8 0 2

McLeod 2 4 0 0 5 A. Freeman 0 4 1

Miller 2 5 1 2 5 Crosby 1 2 1 4

Frazier 4 10 0 0 10 Wing 1 3 0 2

Curtis 5 14 0 0 12 McAvoy 2 4 0 4

Capehart 0 3 2 3 2 Armstrong 0 0

Smith 10 22 4 8 24 Hamm 0 0 2 2

Michaud 0 1 2 4 2 Sutherland 0 1 0

Woodcock 1 2 0 0 3 McLaughlin 0 0

Magee 1 2 2 2 5 Eason 0 0 0 0

Warner 0 2 0 0 0 Higgins 6 11 1 14

Clarke 0 0 0 0 0

Hayden 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 29 76 12 24 77 Totals 11 34 5 17 29

Bangor 14 29 55 77

Home 7 14 18 29

3-pt. goals: Bangor (7-15): Frazier 2-4, Curtis 2-5, McLeod 1-1, Woodcock 1-2, Magee 1-2, Achorn 0-1; Brewer (2-6): Higgins 1-3, Crosby 1-1, A. Freeman 0-1, Wing 0-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 59-29