AUGUSTA, Maine – The Bangor Christian Patriots defeated the Valley High Cavaliers of Bingham 44-31 at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday in a hard-fought boys Class D State Championship game.
The second-seed North champion Patriots (19-3) overcame the first-seed South champion Cavaliers (17-5) with tenacious defense and rebounding.
The win gives the Patriots their first state title after coming close a number of times, including losses in two previous Class D state championship meetings against the Cavaliers in 2002 and 2003.
Bangor Christian’s star guard Jalen Reed led the Patriots in scoring with 19 points while his younger brother Rajon added 13. While Rajon had the team scoring lead midway through the third quarter, Jalen nailed a pair of threes and mixed in a few free throws down the stretch to seal the deal for Bangor Christian. Jalen Reed recorded four steals and blocks while Rajon added two steals and three blocks.
“They are both just very blessed physically. They’re quick with the ball and they’re good with the ball,” Bangor Christian head coach Charlie Colson said about the Reed brothers after the game.
While it was “The Reed Show” for a majority of the game, the early stages looked more like “The Harry Louis Show.” Even with Bangor Christian holding slim margins throughout the opening frame, Cavalier sophomore guard Harry Louis was 3/3 from beyond the arc. Louis finished the night with a team-leading 15 points for Valley.
The message was clear from Colson at the break, with Valley leading 13-12.
“We went into the locker room down by one, I told the kids we knew it was gonna be a grind and we wanted to hold them to 30. We did, they only got 31. But I went “guys you haven’t hit shots yet, and you’re a good enough basketball team that you’re going to hit shots. Just have faith in yourself, have courage, keep shooting the ball like you would normally shoot it and we’re going to be fine,” and it turned out we were.”
Riding momentum and energy, the Patriots kicked off the third quarter with a bang as the Reeds linked up for a steal-and-score, a common occurrence as the game went on.
“One of the things I think that really favors us is that we run a four-guard offense,” Colson said. “When they put us in a position where we have to hurry, we’re able to overcome that situation because of the fact that we have four guys – and Jesse too – that can really handle the ball, so that’s great for us.”
Once the brothers settled in, neither of them looked back as Bangor Christian coasted to the finish, with Valley failing to come within one possession after they had fallen behind by that margin early in the second half.
Now the Patriots can set their sights on next year’s tournament, with youth taking center stage according to Colson.
“I think I had seven freshmen on that bench, and you know, those seven freshmen can flat out play,” Colson said. “We have some kids who chose not to play this year that are sophomores and juniors who, I think this might entice them a little bit to put the sneakers on next fall.”
Story by Mike Corrado