AUGUSTA, Maine — The Bangor girls basketball team has two tournament victories by a combined three points.
But all that matters to the Rams is that they’ll play for the Eastern Maine Class A championship on Saturday afternoon.
“I think we’ve definitely kept it interesting over the past two games, but at this point, a win’s a win, and we’re just happy to advance,” said Bangor senior forward Mary Butler after the top-seeded Rams outlasted No. 4 Edward Little of Auburn 47-45 in their regional semifinal on Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Bangor, which edged No. 8 Hampden Academy 41-40 in the quarterfinals, is 19-1 and will face No. 2 Lawrence of Fairfield in an Eastern Maine final that has been shifted from Friday night to 2:15 p.m. Saturday because of Thursday’s predicted snowstorm. The Western Class D and C semifinals were postponed until Friday.
Bangor never trailed in its semifinal, leading by as many as 10 points midway through the second quarter and by 12 points at 40-28 with 5:41 left in the game.
But each time the Rams were on the verge of pulling away, Edward Little (15-5) rallied and ultimately had several late possessions with a chance to tie or take the lead.
“We stuck to our game plan,” said Bangor coach Joe Johnson. “I thought we handled their pressure for the most part. It went south a little bit, but once we regained our composure and got a couple of layups out of it, I think it cancelled any gain they got out of it.”
Butler, the Darling’s/BDN player of the game, had 16 points and seven rebounds — including a 10-point third quarter that helped Bangor extend a 19-14 halftime lead to 34-26.
Her sister, sophomore Katie Butler, hit a free throw and two layups to help Bangor stretch the margin to 40-28, but Edward Little senior Emily Jacques brought her team back with eight points, including a floater that cut the gap to 44-40 with 1:17 left.
A five-second call against Bangor was followed by a jumper by Edward Little’s Brooke Reynolds that made it a two-point game. But after the Rams’ Emily Gilmore made one of two from the free-throw line, the Red Eddies had a chance to draw even closer. However, Eraleena Hairston couldn’t convert a contested layup after a drive to the basket by teammate Tianna Harriman.
Two missed free throws by Bangor gave Edward Little another chance, but Jacques — who scored a game-high 21 points — came up short on a long 3-pointer.
Katie Butler (13 points) made two free throws with eight seconds left to make it a two-possession game before Jacques banked in a late 3-pointer.
“Part of the difficulty is knowing that it’s win or go home,” said Mary Butler. “That adds a lot of pressure, and it’s a tournament atmosphere. It’s loud, it’s fiery and more intense than what we’re used to and that gets to people sometimes, but I think we’ve done a good job of overcoming that and just staying calm. And every time we do get a little frazzled, coach does a good job of settling us down and keeping us focused.”
