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Wilson Sparks Brewer Boys Past Bangor

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Ernie Clark, Bangor Daily News, Maine

Jan. 11--BANGOR -- The Brewer Witches have been searching for consistency during the first half of the schoolboy basketball season.

Whether they've found it depends on their play in upcoming contests, but Tuesday night's 39-37 win over Bangor at Red Barry Gymnasium suggests progress is being made.

"When we came into this game, we weren't thinking about Bangor," said senior guard Chris Wilson, who led the 3-6 Witches with 21 points and 10 rebounds. "We were thinking about us, that was the main thing. We had to come out here and feel unified as a team once again, because we'd lost some close games and haven't felt like we had come together as a team.

"We focused on Bangor, yes, but it was all about team pride tonight."

While Wilson supplied much of the Witches' statistical might, the inside work of Ryan Babin, Brandon Hardy, Ben Valley and Dustin Littlefield against the taller Bangor frontcourt was equally important.

Brewer outrebounded Bangor 27-24 for the game, including 14-8 in the second half. The Witches were particularly effective in limiting second shots -- Bangor scored just six points from offensive rebounds despite its 3- to-4-inch per player height advantage up front.

"All week in practice coach [Mark Reed] really focused on getting to the weak-side checkouts because outside shots rebound longer," said Babin, who had five points and seven rebounds. "He wanted us to work on checkouts, and we did a lot of defensive drills to prepare for this game.

The Witches also played effective defense without fouling. Brewer committed just five team fouls in the game, with Bangor making 1 of 2 free throws.

"Bangor's a very physical team," said Babin, "so we knew we were going to have to step it up and be physical and get our box-outs and get good position in the post."

Bangor, now 6-3 after having its five-game win streak halted, took its biggest lead at 20-14 on a 3-pointer by Jon McAllian (12 points on four 3-pointers) and an inside move by Ryan Weston early in the third quarter.

But Brewer scored the next 10 points at the outset of a 15-2 run to take control.

Wilson, who scored only two first-half points, followed a Hardy free throw with two 3-pointers to give the Witches a 21-20 lead, and backcourt mate Brad Libby followed with two 3-pointers of his own to counter a fast-break layup by Bangor's Troy Jellison as Brewer grabbed a 27-22 lead at the end of the third quarter.

"[Libby] did a great job of preparing to shoot the ball," said Reed. "Those aren't easy shots in that situation, but when you prepare to shoot the ball it takes some of the pressure off because you're ready when you catch."

Wilson then opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws to cap off the run and give the Witches their largest lead, 29-22.

Alex Gallant (10 points) brought Bangor back with three baseline jumpers, the third with 3:27 left to draw the Rams within 31-28.

Brewer moved back out to a 36-30 lead as Wilson fed Hardy for a left-handed layup and then hit two free throws, but Bangor crept within 37-35 as McAllian hit another 3-pointer and Lee Suvlu converted a tip-in with 21 seconds left.

But Wilson twice went 1-for 2 from the line around a missed 3-pointer by McAllian to give Brewer a two-possession lead entering the game's final seconds.

"We played very, very hard tonight and had a consistent performance throughout the game," said Reed. "I hope that's the first step in our understanding of how important our work is and how important our consistency is in making us successful."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Bangor Daily News, Maine

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Source: Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine)

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