The challenge for a good team facing a big early deficit in any sporting event is that the energy required to erase the deficit often creates an energy deficiency at the end.
That was the Bangor boys basketball team’s experience Tuesday evening during its 64-55 loss to top-ranked Edward Little of Auburn in a Class AA North matchup on Senior Night at Red Barry Gymnasium.
The victory boosted the Red Eddies to 15-2 on the season and avenged a 51-46 homecourt loss to Bangor back on Dec. 21.
The Rams fell to 6-10 with games remaining at Oxford Hills of South Paris on Wednesday and at Brewer on Thursday to close out the regular season. Those foes were a combined 27-5 entering Tuesday’s play.
Each team’s big player came up big in the Bangor-Edward Little rematch. Edward Little senior center John Shea dominated the inside with 26 points and 17 rebounds while Bangor sophomore forward Landon Clark scored a game-high 30 points, 23 in the final 15 minutes to help the Rams narrow a 25-point deficit to just four points before Edward Little was able to regroup and hold on for the victory.
Pat Antoine added 18 points and Marshal Adams scored nine for Edward Little.
Bangor made just three field goals during the game’s first 17 minutes and was unable to contain a balanced Edward Little offense that featured accurate 3-point shooting and Shea’s inside presence.
The Red Eddies took an 8-0 lead during the game’s first minute on 3-pointers by Marshal Adams and Eli St. Laurent and a 15-foot jumper by Hazma Sheikh. A subsequent 21-5 run that included eight points and six rebounds by Shea gave Edward Little a 31-10 halftime lead against a Bangor team that couldn’t get the ball inside and shot just 13 percent (3-of-23) from the field.
“In the first half we started flat, we didn’t have great energy on the defensive end of the floor,” Bangor coach Brad Libby said. “We lost some shooters, we didn’t switch out so they got easy looks early without anyone running at them.
“Offensively we settled, I think we went 1-for-18 from the 3-point line and they were early in the possession. We trust our guys to shoot but they have to be after the ball has moved back and forth and made the defense move so now we can score off penetration and by stepping into the shot.”
The opening seconds of the third quarter looked little different from the first two periods as Anthoine scored on an offensive rebound and then converted a steal by Sheikh into a transition layup as Edward Little’s lead reached its apex at 35-10.
But even more quickly than the Red Eddies built that 25-point advantage, Bangor battled back with fullcourt defensive pressure and the varied offense of sophomore forward Landon Clark.
Bangor forced seven third-quarter turnovers from Edward Little and Clark scored 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and a 6-of-6 effort from the free-throw line during a stunning 21-0 run over a 4-minute, 17-second stretch that drew the Rams within 35-31 with still 2:42 left in the period.
“The turnovers we had in the first and second half were similar, the difference was the turnovers in the second half led to points for them and that was big,” Edward Little coach Mike Adams said. “They were struggling to score and we allowed them to score, and then they hit everything. They got confidence and they got rhythm.”
Edward Little finally was able to get the ball back inside to the rugged Shea in its halfcourt set, and he scored seven points enduring the final two minutes of the quarter to begin quelling Bangor’s momentum and restoring the Red Eddies to a 44-36 lead.
Bangor twice closed to within seven points in the fourth quarter, first at 46-39 on a 3-pointer by Brayden Caron and later at 49-42 on a Connor Boone free throw with 4:50 remaining as Sheikh drew his fourth foul.
But Shea drove the lane for a three-point play and added another inside basket to go with Edward Little’s six straight free throws during the final 2:10 to secure the win..
“It was a learning experience for us tonight,” Adams said. “I was proud that we responded in the fourth quarter and got back to doing some of the things that make us successful.”
