The third-seeded Bangor High School Rams rattled off a 15-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to break open a close game and cruise to a 64-24 Class AA North quarterfinal victory over sixth seed Deering High of Portland at the Red Barry Gym on Thursday night.
Bangor, now 16-3, will take on the winner of the Cheverus-Edward Little of Auburn game in Wednesday’s 2 p.m. semifinal at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Deering concluded a 4-15 season.
Bangor held Deering to eight second-half points while racking up 40, including 25 in the third quarter.
“It was a good defensive second half for us and we were able to transition off defensive rebounds,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “We also made a lot of shots from different spots on the floor.”
Senior forward Abbie Quinn and senior point guard Emmie Streams had 16 points apiece for the Rams. Class AA North rebound leader Quinn also grabbed eight rebounds while Streams, who tops AA North in assists, had seven rebounds and two assists.
Ayzlynn Gifford and Carmen Maddix contributed eight points apiece. Gifford had two assists.
Cassidy Ireland netted six points and also had three rebounds.
Guard Nyabhana Lia, Deering’s only senior, scored 10 points and had five rebounds for Deering and junior guard Maya Gayle had eight points and 10 rebounds. Gayle also had two assists and two blocked shots.
Both Lia and Gayle got in foul trouble and that hurt Deering.
Deering coach Mike Murphy thought his team did a nice job controlling the tempo of the game for 14 of the 16 minutes in the first half.
“But [Bangor] is so tough. They have a little more depth than we do. And then we had sloppy passing in the third quarter,” he added.
Streams said defense was the key to the win.
“We turned it up a notch, defensively, and we started pressuring the ball more and that made a difference,” Streams said. “We were able to transition better.”
Streams noted that their defensive pressure disrupted Deering’s offensive scheme.
“We prioritized switching quickly on defense and communicating,” Quinn said. “That kept us aggressive.”
Credit: Kim Higgins / BDN
Quinn and Lia scored the game’s first 17 points with Quinn netting nine and Lia producing Deering’s eight.
Gayle’s short baseline jumper gave the visiting Rams a 10-9 lead late in the first quarter but Bangor outscored Deering 15-6 for the remainder of the half to take a 24-16 lead into the intermission.
Ireland nailed a 3-pointer off a Streams pass to give Bangor a 12-10 lead that the Rams would never relinquish.
She then fed Gifford for a jumper from the top of the key.
It was 19-16 with three minutes left in the half when Bangor began its decisive 15-0 run.
Streams sandwiched three free throws around a Gifford basket to close out the half and Streams had the first five points of the second half before a Quinn basket and an Ireland three finished off the flurry to give Bangor a 34-16 lead. Deering couldn’t get any closer than 16 the rest of the way.
