BANGOR, Maine — Bangor High School senior forward Mary Butler unveiled a new weapon in her diverse arsenal Tuesday night: the 3-pointer.
The 6-foot-1 Butler hit three, 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a double-double to lead the Rams to a 50-39 victory over Mt. Blue of Farmington.
The victory sets up a Saturday night matchup between 7-0 teams when Bangor visits Lawrence of Fairfield.
Mt. Blue fell to 3-3.
The Brown University-bound Butler wound up with 13 points and 11 assists and she also grabbed seven rebounds.
“I’ve been shooting more,” said Butler, who speculated that it may have been the first time in her career she has had three, 3-pointers.
“She has been really working hard on her [outside] shot,” Bangor coach Joe Johnson said. “I think she had two [3-pointers] all season. That’s the last piece to come for her. I’m glad it’s starting to come. She’s good technically with it.”
The Butler sisters, Mary and Katie, and Cordelia Stewart, who are all 6-footers, controlled the boards as the taller Rams outrebounded the Cougars 28-19. The trio also combined for six blocked shots as their inside presence and Bangor’s aggressive half-court player-to-player defense limited the Cougars to 31.3 percent shooting from the floor, including a 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) showing in the first half as Bangor built a 30-13 intermission lead.
“The key for us tonight was our rebounding and tough defense,” Mary Butler said. “And we were more aggressive on defense than we had been which led to some turnovers and transition [opportunities].”
“[Johnson] is always telling us not to give up any easy shots,” junior guard Sarah Bragg said. “We played very well tonight. I think this was our best game of the season.”
The Rams wasted little time establishing themselves by outscoring the game’s first seven points and building a 17-4 lead after the first quarter.
Mary Butler had a pair of 3-pointers and four assists in the quarter.
Bragg had five points and sophomore Katie Butler had two baskets off passes from her sister. Stewart also converted a Mary Butler pass from the baseline.
The Cougars used a 6-0 run to pull within 22-10 in the second quarter but junior Jenna Bishop came off the bench and produced six points and four rebounds in the latter stages of the second quarter to help the Rams rebuild the lead to 17.
Bishop had four of her points and Alli Boulier had a steal and layup as Bangor closed out the half with a 6-1 run.
“Jenna had a really good game,” Mary Butler said.
Johnson said getting contributions from the bench after his team had gotten into some foul trouble was important.
“They showed they can keep the flow of the game going which is nice,” Johnson said.
Mt. Blue couldn’t get any closer than 15 in the second half until both teams emptied their benches late.
“We knew coming in we were playing an outstanding team. We were tentative. We were very soft on both ends of the floor early in the game,” Mt. Blue coach Gavin Kane said. “If you play like that against a talented team like Bangor, you’re going to pay for it and we did.
“Bangor is a matchup nightmare. The Butler girls can go out on the wings and Mary is an exceptional ball handler. We like to trap but they were able to throw it over the top of us to Mary fairly easily and it gave them some easy opportunities.”
“We defended well and moved the ball well on offense,” Johnson said.
Katie Butler finished with eight points to go with her three blocked shots and three rebounds.
Bragg had seven points with Stewart, Bishop and Boulier netting six each. Emily Gilmore had six rebounds and two assists.
Caitlin Kane’s game-high 16 points paced Mt. Blue. Eryn Doiron had six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Addie Brinkman had five points and five rebounds.