BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor High School girls basketball team won its first seven games, which represented one more win than all of last season when the Rams went 6-12 and wound up missing the Eastern Maine Class A Tournament.
Lawrence High School of Fairfield ended Bangor’s seven-game winning streak on Jan. 3 with a come-from-behind 59-53 victory.
But the Rams didn’t let the loss derail their season.
Bangor took its eighth consecutive victory on Saturday night, 60-37, over Mt. Ararat of Topsham.
The 15-1 Rams, who won the Eastern Maine title in 2012-13, will get another shot at 15-0 Lawrence on Tuesday night when the Bulldogs visit Red Barry Gym in Bangor where the teams will vie for the No. 1 seed with the tourney opener set for Friday, Feb. 13.
First-year coach Joe Johnson and his players said they have made significant progress since the loss to Lawrence.
“I’m very happy with where the team is right now,” Johnson said. “The kids believe in each other and they are playing team basketball.”
Johnson said every aspect of their game has improved.
“We run to positions and space better out of our break; we’re defending a lot better especially out of our half-court man-to-man; our court awareness and protection of the basketball has gotten a lot better. We haven’t been turning the ball over like we did at the beginning of the year,” Johnson said. “And we’ve been doing a much better job recognizing what the other teams are doing to us defensively. We’re becoming very aware and our girls have become better basketball players.”
“We’ve matured as a team as far as reading defenses and being calm and collected in closer games,” senior forward-guard Mary Butler said. “That’s something we’ve gotten progressively better at and those are important things that will help us down the stretch.”
Senior center Cordelia Stewart said the team has played some solid games since the Lawrence loss.
“We’re coming together at the right time. We’re ready. We’re in a good spot as a team heading into the playoffs,” she said. “We’re playing a little smarter now and it’s working out.”
The Rams have real good team chemistry, according to sophomore forward Katie Butler, Mary’s sister.
“We’ve fine-tuned our sets on offense and added in some defenses so we can switch it up,” she said.
Stewart and the Butler sisters are 6-footers who have been vital components in the team’s success.
Mary Butler and Stewart are averaging 10.8 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Mary Butler also leads the team in rebounds (8.2 rebounds per game) and assists (3.8) and is tied for the team lead in 3-pointers with junior guard Sarah Bragg. Each has 12.
Butler has worked hard on her outside shot.
Junior guard Emily Gilmore and Katie Butler are also averaging close to 10 points per game and have been productive rebounders. Gilmore is also averaging 2.8 assists.
“Our guard play has been the biggest area of improvement,” said Johnson, who has also received quality minutes off the bench from guards Sydni Cosgrove, Quinn Wood and Alli Boulier.
Jenna Bishop and Hailee Campbell have supplied depth in the frontcourt.
In Saturday night’s win, Bangor scored 16 unanswered points to build an 18-2 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter and, following a 7-0 run by the Eagles, closed out the half with a 14-3 spurt that swelled the halftime lead to 32-12.
Mt. Ararat couldn’t get any closer than 14 the rest of the night.
“They’re a very good team and [Johnson] has done a great job with them,” said Mt. Ararat coach Andy Morris, whose Eagles were outrebounded 38-23 by the taller Rams.
Stewart finished with a game-high 28 points along with 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Katie Butler notched 17 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Mary Butler, who saw limited duty due to illness, had just two points but contributed a team-high five assists to go with five rebounds and two steals.
Cosgrove had five points and three assists. Gilmore also saw reduced playing time due to sickness but had three rebounds, two assists and three points.
”We haven’t had many practices because of the weather but we came out strong tonight,” Katie Butler said.
Freshman Lauren Sturges had 11 points and two assists for 5-11 Mt. Ararat and Sara Lamb produced seven points, five rebounds and three assists. Nikki Bradstreet had six points and three rebounds, while Allison Melcher had four points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Bangor girls said the resurgence after last year’s six-win season has been a joy.
“It’s very exciting to be back and having a better year than last year. We’re having so much fun,” said Stewart, who sat out last season due to knee surgery.