Bangor began a busy three-game week Wednesday night at Brewer.

The Rams approached the game somewhat cautiously, given the fact they have been hit by a flu bug, were without their best defensive player, and have back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.

Bangor tried to save a little energy by playing a 2-3 zone, which shut down the Witches and helped the Rams earn a 51-29 Big East Conference basketball victory at the Brewer High School gymnasium.

Bangor, already hit by the flu, also was without senior guard John Tennett, who has mononucleosis. Thus, Rams Coach Roger Reed wasn’t about to make the outing more strenuous than necessary.

“We have three games in four days,” Reed said. “We’ve got so many kids who have been sick, I just thought maybe I would try to conserve a little energy this game. We’re just trying to get through the week.”

The Witches, who were forced to fire away from long range, had difficulty generating any offense. Bangor’s zone plugged up the middle effectively and was active enough on the perimeter to keep a hand in the face of Brewer shooters.

The result was a dismal 11-for-58 (19 percent) shooting effort. Bangor also had success rebounding out of the zone, with Ryan Bradford snatching 12 as the Rams finished with a 43-33 advantage.

“We felt that we could clog up the paint with that zone,” Bradford said. “We forced them to take a lot of outside shots tonight. If they started making them, we were going to switch to another defense, but they really were off most of the night.”

Bangor, which pushed its record to 13-1, shook off a sluggish first-quarter performance to start the second period. Bradford swished a 3-pointer at the 7:29 mark, igniting a 9-0 flurry that last 1:08.

Nat Clark scored on a spinning move in the lane off a Mark Reed steal and pass, then made a fast-break layup off a Chris Pickering feed 19 seconds later. Pickering followed with a baseline layup in transition as Bangor pushed its lead to 18-9 with 6:21 left in the half.

Coach Mark Savage’s 4-11 Witches got swallowed up in a scoreless black hole that lasted more than five minutes. Greg Crossman hit a free throw and a hoop from the lane, but Reed launched a 3-pointer from three-quarter-court at the halftime buzzer to make it 25-12 at the break.

The Rams continued to roll in the third quarter, after Brewer’s Brian Colman nailed a 3-pointer to open the second half. Bangor scored the next 16 points and held the hosts scoreless during another drought of 7:26 to put the game away.

“I think playing the zone gave us a great opportunity to rebound and keep it packed in,” Mark Reed said. “When we get into it and we’re aggressive on the perimeter players, it works pretty well for us.”

Reed turned in his usually smooth game, making eight of 14 from the floor while scoring a game-high 18 points. Bradford was a workhorse underneath with eight points, 12 rebounds, five blocked shots, and four assists.

Clark contributed nine points and nine rebounds. Kip Keeling (two steals) and Chris Pickering (three assists) also played well for Bangor.

Brewer, which didn’t have anyone in double figures, was led by Jayson Reynolds’ six points. Colman grabbed nine rebounds.

Rams 51, Witches 29

Bangor Brewer

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Keeling 2 1 0 0 2 Brigalli 0 0 0 0 0

Parke 1 0 0 0 0 Needham 4 1 0 0 3

Murray 0 0 0 0 0 Dore 7 2 0 0 5

Newman 1 0 0 0 0 Horr 1 0 0 0 0

Bradford 10 3 2 1 8 McGrath 1 1 0 0 2

Estey 4 1 0 0 2 Crossman 8 1 4 1 3

Brown 2 0 0 0 0 Reynolds 6 2 2 2 6

Heistand 5 2 0 0 5 Billings 1 0 0 0 0

Clark 6 4 2 1 9 Oxley 3 1 0 0 2

Reed 14 8 0 0 18 Weiser 1 0 0 0 0

Pickering 3 1 0 0 2 Colman 13 1 0 0 3

Jarvis 2 1 0 0 2 Thomas 4 2 1 0 5

Nye 1 1 0 0 3 Seavey 9 0 0 0 0

Totals 51 22 4 2 51 Totals 58 11 7 3 29

Bangor 9 25 41 51

Brewer 9 12 17 29

Preliminary: Bangor JVs 77, Brewer JVs 49

3-pt. goals: Bangor (5-9): Bradford 1-1, Estey 0-1, Brown 0-2, Heistand 1-2, Reed 2-2, Nye 1-1; Brewer (4-29): Needham 1-3, Dore 1-5, Horr 0-1, Crossman 0-2, Weiser 0-1, Colman 1-10, Thomas 1-2, Seavey 0-5