BRUNSWICK, Maine — There was little that went right for the Brunswick boys basketball team through three quarters in a boys basketball Saturday matinee against Bangor.
The Dragons shot a paltry 11 percent (3-for-26) in the first half from the floor and managed just nine points, trailing by 11 at the break.
Add to that the futility Brunswick has had against Bangor in recent years — 11 games without a win in the series.
Somehow, the Dragons came from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to steal a shocking 39-38 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory.
Brunswick (3-3) hosts Brewer on Tuesday while the Rams fell to 1-4 with their fourth straight loss.
“The kids showed a lot of courage, and I am proud of them for battling back for what seemed like a lost cause,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson. “We turned them over in the fourth. The basketball gods were smiling at us.”
“Brunswick hung in, and they hit some shots in the fourth,” said Bangor coach Ed Kohtala. “I just hope my team continues to fight. We have had some tough losses here. I am hoping we are the type of team that rises after having some adversity.”
Down 38-25 after Bangor’s Trey Kenny drained a 3-pointer, Brunswick pressed the Rams into 11 fourth-quarter turnovers. Bangor didn’t score the rest of the way, while Brunswick kept coming, finally taking its first lead since 4-2 in the opening frame when Taran Payne converted a pass from Josh Dorr with 13.4 seconds left.
After a pair of Bangor timeouts, Justin Smith had a good look with the time ticking away, but his shot rolled off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
“We played a very bad first half, so we knew that we had to come out with more intensity in the second half to have a chance,” said Dorr, who had four points and three assists, along with the key diving steal that set up Payne’s winning shot. “We let them do whatever they wanted, but in the fourth it was our turn to dictate what we could do. To come back and get this, it is huge.”
Nothing went the way of the Dragons in the first half. Tied 7-7 late in the first quarter, Brunswick went cold as Bangor outscored the hosts 13-2 for a 20-9 halftime lead.
Smith, Ethan Dorman and Kenny were the catalysts for the Rams, combining for 15 first-half points. Bangor shot 33 percent (8-for-24) and held an 18-9 edge on the glass through 16 minutes.
“We were not executing or doing anything correctly in the first half,” said Brunswick’s Alex Bandouveres.
After a suggestion from his coaching staff, Hanson moved Bandouveres down low in the post, and move that paid dividends as the senior scored 11 of his game-high 13 points in the second half, along with nine of his 11 rebounds, including five off the offensive glass.
“We needed to establish a post presence, so we made it a point to get Alex in there and it worked,” said Hanson.
Brunswick found a little bit of an offensive flow in the third quarter, cutting Bangor’s 11-point halftime lead to 24-18 on a Bandouveres putback.
But, Bangor appeared to put the game away from there. Smith drained a 3-pointer and scored seven third-quarter points to help give the Rams a 35-23 lead.
Brunswick switched to a full-court, four-guard press for the fourth, with the Rams unable to find room. Pearson Cost forced three straight turnovers, while Thomas Hanson, Dorr, Payne, Alan Molnar, J.D. Souza and Caleb Cost took turns diving for every loose ball.
“We went small, with four point guards out there, and we asked them to give up their bodies,” said Todd Hanson. “We wanted to leave a little bit of ‘DNA’ out on the court, and we did.”
Two free throws each from Pearson Cost and Payne cut the Brunswick deficit to 38-31 and three more steals led to four points, including a 3-pointer from Thomas Hanson with 1:22 left to get the Dragons within three, 38-35.
Bangor missed consecutive front ends of 1-and-1 opportunities and, moments later, Bandouveres scored inside. Just seven seconds later, Payne gave the Dragons the win.
“We just didn’t finish plays, and we had some panic situations, something that happens when the momentum turns,” said Kohtala. “We had some opportunities to knock down free throws (3-for-10), and we didn’t do it.”
Brunswick shot just 23 percent from the floor (13 of 55), but made good on 10 of 15 from the line. Thomas Hanson ended with 10 points, while Payne chipped in seven, all coming in the second half.
Smith led Bangor with 12 points, while Kenny pulled down 13 rebounds and matched Dorman with seven points.