The Bangor High School boys basketball team won just one game last season.
But the Rams are quickly writing a different story this year.
In just the second week of their new campaign, the Rams have already surpassed that win total from a year ago. Bangor used a solid night shooting and withstood some late pressure from returning Class A North champs Messalonskee to go to 2-0 on the season with a 75-57 home win on Tuesday.
The energetic Bangor team got a big boost at the guard position from brothers Nate and Josh Grunkemeyer, along with sophomore forward Harry Fitzpatrick.
Sophomore Nate Grunkemeyer led all scorers with 20 points. Fitzpatrick added 17, and senior Josh Grunkemeyer had 10 points to go along with another 10 from sophomore guard Daxton Gifford.
Asked about already having more wins than last year, Josh Grunkemeyer noted that two years ago was also a one-win season for the Rams.
“I’ve totaled my win record over the last two seasons in two games here,” Grunkemeyer said. “So this is definitely a great feeling.”
The elder Grunkemeyer brother said he didn’t bring the right energy to the start of the game, but eventually found his rhythm shooting the ball. And he said his brother brings an important dynamic to the team.
“He beats me at one-on-one now, so we don’t play one-on-one anymore,” Josh Grunkemeyer said with a laugh. “He’s definitely a big part of our team. He brings that slashing ability, he’s able to get into the paint and draw some attention, and that really helps us, for sure.”
Fitzpatrick and senior Will Houghton helped the Rams establish a commanding presence down low in the first half, and Gifford helped orchestrate a well-balanced offensive performance by the home team.
New head coach Jay Kemble, who has a history of helping Bangor teams find success in various sports, is off to a good start with the boys basketball team. The Rams won their season opener on Saturday in dramatic fashion, needing overtime to take down Brunswick.
“Like anything, it’s a process. We’re not worried about wins,” Kemble said after Tuesday night’s game. “We’re worried more about just understanding the process to go out and compete every single day. And if you do those little things, the big things take care of themselves.”
And Kemble certainly isn’t worried about the team’s 1-17 record from a year ago. Or the one-win season before that.
“We can’t control last year. Whatever happened last year or the year before, that’s not our mission,” Kemble said. “Our mission is for us to get better every single day and work hard every day, and understand how to become a team, how to work together.”
Success will come from those things, not from focusing on previous years, according to the Bangor coach. He agreed that it was a good night for the Grunkemeyer brothers, and said Bangor’s season will depend on across-the-board contributions.
“Josh had some big shots tonight. Nate had some great drives to the basket. But everybody that went into the game tonight contributed for us,” Kemble said. “And if we’re going to be a good team, if we’re going to be a team that can fight there at the end of the season, everybody has to be contributors for us.”
