AUGUSTA — The top two defensive boys’ basketball teams in Eastern Class A squared off Wednesday night in a regional semifinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
The biggest difference between No. 1 Bangor and No. 4 Mt. Blue?
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The Rams had a few more shooters, a few less turnovers and a bit more size.
Patrick Stewart scored 12 points – 10 in the second half – and Luke Hettermann added eight to lead Bangor to a 41-34 win.
“We hung around and hung around but didn’t have quite enough to get it done,” Mt. Blue Coach Jim Bessey said. “We had a hard time dealing with them physically.”
Bangor (19-1) will play No. 3 Edward Little (19-1) in the regional final Friday night. The two-time defending champion Red Eddies defeated No. 2 Hampden 70-65 in the other semifinal.
Mt. Blue did what it hoped to do against Bangor: Play a possession game, run the clock and keep it close. The Cougars just didn’t have enough offense.
Eric Berry scored 11 points to pace Mt. Blue (11-9). Blake Hart and Cam Sennick each scored seven.
The Cougars trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half.
Bangor led 19-11 at the half, and Hettermann and Stewart helped them stretch the lead in the third. Hettermann sliced his way to the basket for two layups and Stewart banged inside for two easy baskets as Bangor went up 30-17 late in the third.
“We didn’t want to get down, which is exactly what we did,” Bessey said.
Mt. Blue used an 11-4 run to pull within 34-28, but Bangor pulled away in the end, sinking its foul shots.
Mt. Blue came in holding opponents to about 44 points per game – second in Eastern Class A to Bangor (37 ppg).
But as good as Mt. Blue was defensively, Bangor was equally impressive, forcing the Cougars into taking bad shots. Mt. Blue made just one of its first nine shots and had only four field goals in the first.
The Rams, meanwhile, made 6 of their first 10 field goals to take a 15-5 lead after the first quarter. Thomas hit a deep 3-pointer to spark the Rams early.
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