Myah Nicolas of Lewiston High School grabs a pass in the paint during the second half of Friday’s game against Bangor High School. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — The Bangor Rams were seemingly quicker to every ball, quicker down the court and quicker on each swing pass than Lewiston in the first half Friday night.
After a taking a huge halftime lead, Bangor hung on for a 52-40 Class AA North girls’ basketball win over the Blue Devils.
“We played a really, really good first half,” Bangor head coach Joe Nelson said. “We moved the ball great on offense, and I thought our defense was really good. We had great help-side defense every time the ball moved and we rebounded really well and kept them to one shot. We made shots, too, which is a nice thing.”
The Rams started hot, hitting four 3-pointers and grabbing 18 first-quarter rebounds. Libby Fleming scored eight points and pulled down six rebounds, three on offense that kept possessions alive.
Abby Fleming led the team in the first half with 10 points and three boards of her own.
“We’ve had the same team since last year and we all know each other’s strengths and how to get each other a good look and open shot,” Abby Fleming said. “I think if we give that intensity for every game and that energy then it will bring good shots and and good defense, rebounding.”
The second-chance points for Bangor (8-5) were key, often leading to either putbacks or foul shots and sometimes being ripped out to the perimeter for a good look at a 3-pointer.
For Lewiston, the height of the Rams proved to be too much in the first half.
“(Bangor got) every single offensive rebound,” Lewiston head coach Lynn Girouard said. “I’d like to know what their shooting percentage was because they didn’t miss very many. Maybe we should have gone into the zone a little sooner, but it’s one of those things.”
Myah Nicholas led Lewiston in the first half with six points. Maddy Foster added five and three rebounds along with a steal in the first 16 minutes.
Lewiston trailed by 39-12 at halftime but kicked up the energy in the third, switching to a zone defense and also pressing all the way down the court. The defensive pressure slowed the Rams and the Blue Devils quietly started to claw their way back into the game.
Foster hit a 3-pointer to make it 43-18 with 3:30 remaining in the third and then another a minute later. That inspired the bench to become more alive, and the energy in the building shifted to the home team’s favor.
“I don’t think these are the types of girls that would lay down,” Girouard said. “I just told them that we had to be better. We are a better team than that first-half team. We showed that in the second half.”
Emily Strachan scored five in the third quarter, including three free throws and a layup after a perfect pass from Cecelia Racine on the elbow to make it 42-23 with 43 seconds left in the period.
Abby Fleming said the Rams needed to regroup and get back to the style they were playing in the first half.
“I was trying to tell everyone to settle down,” Fleming said. “We don’t need to freak out, we just need to keep our calm and do what we were doing the whole game.”
Offensively, Bangor struggled to get good shots in the second half.
“The second half, we struggled a little on offense and I thought we got tentative,” Nelson said. “We didn’t go hard to the ball, step to the ball and made some bad decisions.
“We’ve done that in parts this year.”
Foster recorded three of Lewiston’s four steals in the fourth quarter during its comeback attempt.
“They pressure the ball defensively and I think that gets our momentum going a little bit,” Girouard said. “We lock in defensively and play solid defense, get the easy steal and jump the pass. Maddy is great at reading the offense and she can jump the passes, but we just have to do more of that.”
Jordyn Rubin stole the ball with 2:45 remaining in the game and immediately found Foster with the outlet pass for a three to cut the lead to 48-37.
Lewiston was able to cut the lead to 10 but a few missed layups and not enough seconds left on the clock prevented a complete comeback.
Friday’s game showed the Rams what they’re capable of if the level of play is high for 32 minutes.
“It’s another win in Class AA,” Nelson said. “They’re a team that plays hard and gets on a roll when they make shots, and we have always had trouble playing here at Lewiston. I think we showed that we are trying to build and play our best basketball at the end of the year. I think for parts of it that happened but we need to be consistent all the time.”
Madeline Foster of Lewiston High School gets a pass by Abby Houghton of Bangor during the second half in Lewiston on Friday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Kaura Lawrence of Lewiston High School looks to pass from the floor during the first half of Friday’s game against Bangor High School. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Myah Nicolas of Lewiston High School shoots over Maggie Cowperthwaite of Bangor during the first half in Lewiston on Friday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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