For the Bangor High School basketball team, the other guys can score, too.
While Bangor’s big three of Sam Martin, Henry Westrich and Andrew Szwez were kept 28 points below their combined scoring average of 51 points per game in Friday night’s clash against Brewer, their teammates stepped up big to help the Rams secure a 53-47 victory at Red Barry Gymnasium.
Senior guard Parker Noyes matched a team-high with 13 points, classmate Quinn Richards added seven and sophomore forward Max Clark — Bangor’s starting quarterback during football season — scored five points and threw a length-of-the-court inbounding pass to Westrich for a three-point play in the final seconds to clinch a hard-fought victory for the 4-0 Rams.
“Things didn’t go our way all night long,” Bangor coach Brad Libby said. “Sam got in foul trouble early. Henry got in foul trouble early. We had three or four of our five starters sitting on the bench in the first half.
“But I tell the guys every day it could be someone different stepping up and this was a great game to show them that a championship-caliber team needs one through 15 to show up every night. It could be someone different every night so you’ve always got to be ready to go.”
Brewer, playing its second straight game without talented junior Dylan Huff (ankle), got a game-high 14 points and strong interior defense from senior forward Trevor Pearson and 13 points each from junior guard Kyle Goodrich and sophomore guard Aaron Newcomb.
“We know they’re a good team and they have some really good players,” Pearson said. “Our goal is to take away their best players, as it is in any game. We just played team basketball.”
Class AA Bangor never trailed after two drives by Noyes offset a game-opening 3-pointer by Goodrich to give the Rams a 4-3 lead.
But after Bangor scored 12 unanswered points late in the first quarter to build an 18-6 cushion, turnovers and foul trouble slowed the Rams’ momentum and Class A Brewer was eager to capitalize.
The 6-foot-4 Westrich (13 points) and 6-8 Martin (eight points) each drew his second foul midway through the second quarter. And as Brewer tightened up its own offense the deficit narrowed.
Coach Ben Goodwin’s Witches committed only one turnover during the period and closed within 25-22 at the break.
“Size is definitely a factor and it’s always good to have it,” Pearson said. “But when we get [other] people in foul trouble and off the court, it’s easier to play the game.”
Bangor struck for the first four points of the second half, but Newcomb hit one 3-pointer and Goodrich connected twice in a row from long range as the Witches twice pulled within a single point a 34-33 and 36-35.
A 3-pointer by Cooper Khoury helped Bangor rebuild its lead to 43-37, but after the Rams took a 45-41 lead into the final period, both teams struggled offensively over the game’s last eight minutes.
Brewer was still within 48-45 after a drive by Colby Smith with 6.6 seconds left, but after a Bangor timeout Clark threw long to Westrich, and his ensuing layup and free throw finally put the game away.
“We played a really, really good basketball team tonight,” Libby said. “They’re in the top of Class A, a scrappy team that’s really well coached and plays with a lot of energy.
“Coming out of this with a ‘W,’ we feel really good about it.”
