BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor High School girls basketball team had gone nearly 10 minutes without a basket in the second half of their Class AA North game against Oxford Hills of South Paris on Thursday night and the Rams saw their 13-point lead whittled to three with 4:37 remaining.
But senior guard Ayzlynn Gifford hit a pair of lefthanded layups to snap the drought; senior forward Emily Adams blocked a layup with 11 seconds left and the Rams hung on for a 40-39 victory at the Red Barry Gym.
Bangor improved to 5-3 and avenged a 47-43 loss in South Paris on Dec. 10.
Oxford Hills fell to 6-2.
Oxford Hills standout senior guard-forward Ella Pelletier, who leads AA North in scoring (25.8 points per game) and rebounding (10.6 rpg), nearly won it at the buzzer but her jump shot from the top of the key hit the front rim.
Pelletier, a Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl first team selection last year, poured in a game-high 25 points, hauled down 10 rebounds and also had three steals.
She will take her skills to Stonehill (Mass.) next fall.
Bangor was clinging to a 35-32 lead after Pelletier hit a short runner from the base line when Gifford got a step on her defender and converted a layup with 4:37 remaining.
Pelletier answered with a 12-foot runner but Gifford again beat her defender to the basket and laid the ball in to make it 39-34 with 2:45 left.
“Our people in the corners were widening out which drew their defense over and that gave me an open lane,” explained Gifford, whose right hand is her stronger hand.
Bangor coach Jay Kemble said they were trying to exploit a quickness mismatch with either Gifford or Dalaney Horr.
“Ayzlynn is so quick and so good at finishing. She’s not big but she gets up and elevates asnd is really poised around the basket,” said Kemble who added that Gifford “doesn’t have a weak hand” and showed she can score with both.
Maddy Herrick hit a six-foot jumper to again cut the lead to three with 1:45 left but Adams extended the lead to 40-36 with a free throw with 45 seconds left.
Gabbie Tibbetts nailed a three off an inbounds pass from Madalyn Oliveira with 22 seconds left to slice the lead to one.
Gifford was tripped in the frontcourt and lost the ball and Tibbetts picked it up and drove to the basket only to have Adams race in behind her and block her shot.
“We got back on defense. We won the game with defense,” said Adams.
Oxford Hills was able to inbound the ball with 11 seconds left and got the ball to Pelletier but she was swarmed by Ram defenders and couldn’t convert underneath.
And she was whistled for an offensive foul.
“We knew they were going to go to her so we made sure she didn’t get a good shot off,” said Bangor junior guard Avery Clark.
Bangor inbounded the ball with 1.4 seconds left, Gifford lost it out of bounds and Oxford Hills called a play during a timeout with half a second remaining. They got it to an open Pelletier but her jumper was short.
Clark had 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half and Horr had seven points as the Rams built a 26-18 lead at the intermission.
Bangor expanded the lead to 34-21 with an 8-3 run to open the second half with Horr scoring five of the points off a jump shot in the lane and a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a Gifford pass.
But then the Rams went cold and they turned the ball over numerous times as the Vikings fought their way back into the game with a 9-1 flurry to close out the third period.
Pelletier had five of the points with Tibbetts and Maddy Herrick each adding a basket.
Clark finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Bangor and junior guard Horr had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Gifford produced nine points, two rebounds and two steals and Gabby Roy had five points.
Senior Tibbetts complemented Pelletier with five points and three assists and senior Herrick contributed five points and 10 rebounds.
Kemble called it a “great win.
“They have one of the best players in the state in Pelletier but our help defense against her was really good,” said Kemble. “Dalaney Horr did a really good job, defensively, on Tibbetts. We got a little tired at the end because I didn’t substitute as much as I usually do. Oxford Hills is a quality team.”
“We had some things transpire during the game that we did a good job of fighting through,” he added.
Oxford Hills first-year coach Cimeron Colby said his team had a “great second half.
“We took a kid off the bench, Kayla Palmer, and put her in and she brought us energy and that energy was contagious,” said Colby. “We were a better team because of it. And I was proud of the way we executed down the stretch.
“Bangor is very well-coached,” said Colby. “They have some great players and time you get on a bus and come two hours up here, you know you’re going to be in for a battle.
“It’s a coin flip any time we play Bangor,” he added.
Both teams will play again on Saturday as Bangor will travel to Windham for a 1 p.m. game while Oxford Hills will host Mt. Blue of Farmington at noon.
