BUCKFIELD — The Buckfield boys’ basketball team controlled the third quarter and then held on to beat Rangeley, 53-40, on Friday night.
The Bucks opened the third with a 14-3 run and outscored the Lakers 16-5 in the period to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 40-25 advantage.
“We defended really well,” Buckfield coach Kyle Rines said. “I mean, when you hold a team to 40 or below, that’s awesome.”
All five of the Lakers’ third-quarter points were scored by Kyle LaRochelle, who finished with a game-high 19 points. The Bucks swarmed him whenever he caught the ball in the post, and eight of his points came at the free-throw line.
“LaRochelle killed us the first game with 22 (points), he scored 35 the other night in a different game, so we knew we had to key on him,” Rines said. “He still had a pretty good night tonight … but I thought (freshman) Tyler Gammons really shut him down, using his length. But we threw different guys at different people.”
Buckfield also went on a 13-5 run in the second quarter, led by drives to the hoop by Jacob Kraske and Ethan Jackson. Kraske, who led the Bucks with 16 points, scored six straight Buckfield points to make it 22-14.
Rangeley scored the final six points of the second to cut its deficit to 24-20 at halftime.
But, then Jackson and Kraske paced the 14-3 third-quarter run. Jackson opened the period with an and-one and scored seven of the 14 points. Kraske scored four points during the run and freshman Tyler Gammons hit a 3-pointer.
Jackson finished with 13 points. Kyle Charest added 10 points for the Bucks.
“Kyle Charest, our big guy, he had to have a double-double tonight. He had so many rebounds,” Rines said. “Really proud of him. I told him as he came out, you want to do the hard work tonight, and he did the hard work.”
LaRochelle had all five of Rangeley’s points in the period, but didn’t tally the team’s first field goal until less than two minutes remained in the third.
Carl Trafton finished with 11 points for the Lakers, and Zack Trafton scored eight.
Rangeley (3-7) opened the game in a nice rhythm and jumped out to a 9-4 lead. But then, coach Jeff LaRochelle said, the Lakers fell into bad habits that have plagued them throughout the season.
“We don’t think of what do I got to do right at this moment,” Jeff LaRochelle said. “We’re not very good at anticipating.
“It’s been a theme all season long is that, we’re giving up way too many layups, so defensive field-goal percentage is way too high. You know, I don’t think they hit too many shots from the outside when we actually played defense. Or they shoot a 15-footer, and then they get the rebound, and it ends up being a 4-footer … we’re trading a 15 for a 4 because we’re not blocking out.”
Buckfield (4-7) plays at Seacoast Christian (5-4) on Tuesday. Rangeley is off until next Friday when it plays at St. Dom’s (0-9).
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