BANGOR, Maine — The Deering High School boys basketball team averaged 82 points per game through its first four encounters of the season with defensive pressure and fast-break offense two primary catalysts.
Bangor did much to frustrate those efforts Saturday afternoon, but two game-changing runs helped Deering improve its record to 5-0 with a 66-60 victory in a Class AA battle with the Rams at Red Barry Gymnasium.
Deering withstood 26 turnovers with a 12-0 run early in the second quarter and a 14-2 blitz at the outset of the fourth period — sequences that left a stubborn Bangor club to play from behind.
Bangor overcame that initial run to grab a 41-39 lead on a Justin Smith jumper late in the third quarter and took a 45-41 lead into the final period.
But Deering surged again, with Malik White hitting a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup after a Bangor turnover to give his team the lead and Ben Williams adding six more points as the advantage grew back to as many as eight points.
“We like to play in the 70s and 80s,” said Deering coach Todd Wing, “but we did get our spurts and that’s what we rely on. We trust our pressure that we will get those spurts, and they can win us games or they can bring us back from behind as it did in the fourth quarter.
“We stick with it because that’s our identity.”
Bangor (1-4) was still within 60-58 when Smith buried a 3-pointer from the right of the key off an Ethan Dorman assist with 1:25 left in the game.
Deering regained a two-possession lead with 59 seconds left on a jumper by Anthony Lobor — who normally starts but missed the team bus and subsequently found his own way from Portland to Bangor before being inserted into the game for the first time in the fourth quarter.
Bangor missed a free throw — its only errant shot in 15 attempts from the line — and Manny Chikuta then hit two from the line for Deering to make it 64-58 with 39.6 seconds left.
White and Max Chabot each scored 13 points for Deering while Williams, the team’s leading scorer for the season, managed just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting but contributed five assists, three steals and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Rams, who outboarded Bangor 40-20.
Smith paced Bangor with 16 points and six rebounds, while Dorman added 13 points, three steals and three assists despite playing nearly the entire second half with four fouls.
“We’ve got some toughness,” said Bangor coach Carl Parker. “Our kids really want to win, and they’re working extremely hard. We’re getting better.”
Bangor forced eight Deering turnovers while building a 15-9 lead as Luke Tuell hit a follow-up jumper, Logan Alley had a press-breaking layup and Dorman converted a 3-point play off a drive to close out the first period.
Deering soon turned full-court defense into instant offense, with Williams and Chikuta sparking a run of 12 unanswered points to help their team take a 30-25 halftime lead.
