Bangor sophomore guard Nate Grunkemeyer said there was no panic when the Rams entered the fourth quarter of Friday night’s Class A North quarterfinal game trailing Lewiston by three points.
“The biggest part was to be in control. We don’t want to get sped up, we don’t want to turn the ball over. We just want to play under control, and we were able to do that and come back,’’ said Grunkemeyer, who scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the final 7:14 of the game to carry Bangor to a 54-43 victory at the Augusta Civic Center.
The win sends No. 4 seed Bangor into Wednesday’s semifinal round against the winner of the Camden Hills vs. Skowhegan game.
No. 5 Lewiston had reeled off 18 straight points in a frenetic third quarter keyed by their switch to a 1-3-1 zone defense that gave the Rams fits. Lewiston forward Grayson Bernard sparked the offense with 6 of his team-high 18 points to give his team a 35-32 lead entering the fourth period.
“That was probably the worst third quarter we’ve played this year,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “At the end of the quarter we talked about being patient and let the game come to us.”
After Bangor senior forward Harrison Fitzpatrick drained a jumper from the key to tie the game at 37-37 with 5:40 remaining, Lewiston committed a technical foul. Fitzpatrick hit one of two from the line and, with Bangor keeping possession, he fed a cutting Grunkemeyer for an easy layup to give the Rams a 40-37 lead.
Grunkemeyer finished Bangor’s next two possessions by driving hard to the basket for layups, extending the lead to 44-37. When he drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 50-37 with 2:08 to play, the win was in the bag.
“Nate is so athletic,” said Kemble. “He can jump out of the gym and he has great ball skills. He carried us through that spell when the game was on the line.”
Bangor led 27-17 at the half on the strength of its tenacious defense and 10 points from Alex Tennett and 9 points from Liam Vigue. Tennett finished with 12 points.