BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor High School boys basketball team won just one game last season, finishing up at 1-18.
They already have one this season.
The Rams built a 21-point lead with 2:21 remaining in the third period and survived a fierce fourth-quarter rally by the Portland High School Bulldogs to earn a 65-60 victory at the Red Barry Gymnasium in a mutual season-opener on Friday night.
It was the debut of Aaron Pinckney as Bangor’s head coach and the first game in a Ram uniform for former Calais High guard Philip Bassett, who sewed up the win with two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining.
Bassett, a junior, came off the bench and shared team scoring honors with junior forward Josh Grunkemeyer. Both finished with 14 points.
Bassett had 10 of his points in the second half.
Freshman point guard Nate Grunkemeyer, Josh’s brother, had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists; junior forward Harry Fitzpatrick had 11 points and three rebounds and senior forward Liam Vigue contributed nine points and two rebounds.
The Bulldogs, 16-5 a year ago and a 43-34 loser to eventual state champ Windham in the AA North championship game, have just one returning starter in Cordell Jones and he missed the game due to a hand injury.
Bangor had lost twice to Portland a year ago by an average of 30 points.
Junior guard Lucas Legage had a game-high 16 points and two rebounds for Portland and sophomore guard Maddox Meas produced 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Junior guard Loic Ramazani had eight points and three rebounds, senior center Devin Walker scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds and sophomore center Benilson Lumani also had seven points to go with four rebounds and a blocked shot.
“We played really well especially after being pretty shaky the last two years,” said Vigue referring to Bangor’s 3-35 record over the previous two seasons.
“We came out with intensity, pushed the pace and played our game,” Vigue added.
The Rams blitzed the inexperienced Bulldogs by scoring the game’s first eight points in building a 21-7 lead after the first period.
Bangor led 33-23 at the half and expanded the lead to 50-29 with 2:21 remaining in the third period.
The Rams were still holding an 18-point lead with only four minutes remaining when the Bulldogs rattled off a 14-0 run to pull within four with just 1:18 remaining.
The Bulldogs pressured the Rams into a bunch of turnovers and turned them into transition points. Lumani had five of the 14 points.
Fitzpatrick’s layup snapped the run with just over a minute left to make it 63-57 but two Ramazani free throws with 24 seconds left and a Ricardo Cango foul shot just 12 seconds later closed it to 63-60.
But the Bulldogs had to foul Bassett and he sank both free throws.
“I was just thinking knock them down. I didn’t have any other thoughts,” said Bassett who added that his second half mindset was to “attack the defense.
“I was just trying to go to the hoop. Look for my teammates, get them open, get some good shots,” added Bassett, who used his quickness to get to the basket.
“He did his thing. He was coldblooded (at the free throw line),” said Vigue.
“The players came out and played well. They looked confident,” said Pinckney. “It’s still a work in progress but I thought they did very well. They competed hard on every possession.
“We have some things to work on. It’s a long season. But it was good for them (to win),” he added.
“It’s great to get this first win after last year’s shenanigans,” said Josh Grunkemeyer. “This is a solid team and for us to play that well for three quarters and four minutes feels real good.”
Bangor hit 10 3-pointers compared to Portland’s four.
Veteran Portland coach Joe Russo was elated with his team’s comeback.
“This is really a jayvee team. There weren’t any players who played substantial varsity minutes last year,” said Russo. “But they really fought like sons-of-a-gun in the second half and if they keep that up, we’ll soon be a varsity team.”
Bangor and Portland will both be in action again on Tuesday.
Bangor will host Oxford Hills of South Paris at 6:30 and Portland will travel to Scarborough for a 7 p.m. contest.
