BANGOR, Maine — Opponents are quick to realize that Bangor High School is a tall basketball team.
Yet the Rams don’t sit back in a zone. They go after teams aggressively.
Bangor exhibited excellent ball pressure on the perimeter and choked off the middle effectively on Thursday night, setting the tone for a 36-13 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference girls basketball victory over Skowhegan at Red Barry Gym.
“I just thought they couldn’t match up with our size,” first-year Bangor head coach Joe Johnson said. “They tried to in the (2-3) zone; we just had too many second shots.”
The Rams’ size and experience was too much for the youthful Indians, who were unable to mount much in the way of an offense. Bangor (4-0) held Skowhegan (2-2) to 13 percent shooting (5-for-40) and grabbed a 48-30 rebounding advantage.
“They’re big, they’re athletic and we’re playing a lot of kids that have no varsity experience,” Skowhegan coach Bob Witts said.
“They see the big kids, they’re intimidated by the big kids,” he added.
Bangor shot only 29 percent from the floor (15-for-51), but only utilized its starters for about half the game. The hosts grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and turned them into 14 points.
Senior Mary Butler and junior Emily Gilmore snared four offensive boards each to lead the way.
“Our bigs do a great job boxing people out, so I can just run in and get it if they don’t get it,” said Gilmore, who finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
Butler, who paced the Rams with 10 points and eight rebounds, said their defense was the difference. Skowhegan committed 19 turnovers.
“We got in the passing lanes and we were doing some doubling,” she said. “That helped us get some steals and turned them over a little bit so we could generate some offense.”
Sarah Bragg added five points and Cordelia Stewart finished with four points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for Bangor, which had 16 turnovers of its own.
Tracey Swanson led Skowhegan with six points and four rebounds while Noah Stevens pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Rams took charge early while building a 23-5 halftime advantage.
Bangor played tight, player-to-player defense and made it difficult for Skowhegan to get the ball inside effectively — whether off the dribble or a pass.
The Indians committed 11 first-half turnovers and went 2-for-17 from the field.
Bangor was able to work the ball inside well, but didn’t cash in on several of those close-range shots. The Rams succeeded at crashing the boards and scored six baskets on offensive rebounds.
The hosts pulled in front with an early 11-0 burst. It began with a Katie Butler free throw, then Bragg scored a fast-break layup. Stewart followed by hitting a short jumper from the baseline, before Gilmore’s strong offensive rebound led to a conventional three-point play.
Bragg’s foul shot, then a steal and layup by Mary Butler pushed Bangor’s lead to 13-2 with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Rams did have some turnover issues, committing eight miscues. Most of them came in their haste to get the ball down the court in transition.
“They like to run, but we don’t make the best decisions sometimes,” Johnson said. “I like the easy baskets, but we’re good enough in the half-court that we don’t have to take some of the chances that we’re taking.”
When Bangor’s starters re-entered halfway through the second quarter, they put together an 8-0 run to end the half that made it a 20-point game.