In a battle of Class D North championship hopefuls Friday night, Bangor Christian used a monster third quarter to bury Jonesport-Beals 66-44 at the Cross Center.
Leading 24-21 at half, Bangor Christian turned four steals and some beautiful ball movement into 24 third quarter points and never looked back.
With the win, the Patriots improved to 9-2 (5-2 in-conference) and Jonesport-Beals moved to 6-4 (2-1 in-conference).
“We went man-to-man, and our defensive intensity was crazy,” senior Bangor Christian guard Jalen Reed said. “We were pressuring the ball, getting a lot of steals and easy buckets. We were finding the open man, getting that pick-and-roll action — it was good basketball.”
Bangor Christian finished with seven steals, six 3-pointers made and four double-digit scorers in sophomore forward Jesse Booker (16 points), Jalen Reed (14 points), senior forward Colton White (13 points) and freshman guard Rajon Reed (11 points). Jalen Reed also logged four assists and White had three.
The Patriots conceded nine offensive rebounds in the first half, but switched to man defense and brought Booker in off the bench to clean up the boards, allowing just two offensive rebounds in the second half.
“It took us a half to get going; we didn’t rebound. It’s awfully hard to score when you’re giving your opponent so many attempts at the basket,” Bangor Christian head coach Charlie Colson said. “Once we got into the flow of our offense, we distributed the ball really well. Our balance was really nice tonight.”
Reeling in the offensive rebounds for Jonesport-Beals were William Guptill and Eli Peabody, each of whom finished with three on the night. Senior guard Brevan Kenney and junior guard Kaden Beal were the Royals’ leading scorers, with 20 and 12 points, respectively.
“Brevan’s averaging around 21 [points] a game with seven or eight rebounds. He’s had a great season so far, and is kind of our leader,” Jonesport-Beals head coach Skipper Alley said. “We didn’t take care of the ball, and our defense lost sight of what we were trying to do. You know, [BCHS] is big, they’re experienced — they’ve got a good ball club.”
Next up, Bangor Christian will host Shead on Jan. 16, and then Dexter on Jan. 20, at the Cross Center in Bangor. Jonesport-Beals will play Machias away on Jan. 18, and then Deer Isle-Stonington away on Jan. 19.
