BANGOR- The Bangor Christian Patriots hosted the Stearns Minutemen in a season opening Class D North girls/boys high school basketball doubleheader Friday night at the Cross Insurance Center, and by the end of the evening the Patriots would come away with a sweep.
In the girls game- Bangor Christian got a game-high 20 points from Lyndsie Durost, and outscored Stearns 30-7 in the second half in pulling away for a 55-22 victory over the Minutemen.
Bangor Christian never trailed, scoring the first 10 points of the game and taking a 12-2 advantage after the opening eight minutes. The Patriots put a total of five players on the scoring sheet in the second quarter taking a 15 point lead, and would head into the break up 25-15. They broke it open in the second half, shutting out Stearns 12-0 in the third period helped by six points from Durost on a pair of three-pointers. Six different players scored in the fourth, and the 33 point final margin was the largest lead of the night.
Durost hit 4 three-pointers as part of her game-high point total in the win for Bangor Christian. Eighth grader Maris Kowalski added seven points, while Corina Walden contributed six points. Also getting on the scoresheet with four points a piece was eighth grader Rivers Bradford, Hope Nesbitt, Katherine Benjamin, and Caroline Walden. Meghan Remington, Addison Caldwell, and Bella Cornwell had two points each. The Patriots shot 6-12 from the foul line. Mariah Frost had 14 points (2 three-pointers) in the loss for Stearns. Natalie Creehan had five points, Molly Anderson had two, and Madison Carr made a free throw for one point. The Minutemen went 5-8 at the line.
In the boys game- Jesse Booker and Elliot Straubel combined for 35 of the 41 second half Bangor Christian points, as the Patriots pulled away to complete the sweep over the Minutemen 66-47.
It was a back and fourth and very tightly contested first half, with both teams holding a lead. After the first quarter ended 8-8, Stearns took their final lead of the game by a point on a free throw from Beckett Brown early in the second. Bangor Christian then went on a run of 16-6 sparked by six points each from Booker and sophomore Rajon Reed to grab an advantage of 24-15. The Minutemen got right back in it though on a 7-1 spurt to end the half, cutting it to 25-22 at the break. After Stearns tied it early in the third quarter at 27-27 on a three-pointer by Shayne Grass, the Patriots used an 11-0 run to grab back a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Booker (12) and Straubel (7) had all 19 BC points in the period, as they led 44-33 headed to the fourth. The two were big again in the final eight minutes, going for 16 points combined as another 11-0 run put the game away eventually leading by as many as 24.
Booker finished with 27 points (19 in the second half), while Straubel (2 three-pointers) scored 16 of his 19 points in the final 16 minutes. Reed contributed 12 points and Alden Stutheit added eight. Bangor Christian, who is the defending Class D state champion, shot 10-16 from the foul line. Grass led Stearns in the defeat with 17 points (3 three-pointers). Michael Robinson had 10 points, Brown and Lucas Pelkey put in six each, while Tyler Morris and Bradley Nice chipped in three points a piece. Emerson Michaud also put in a basket for two points. The Minutemen shot 5-7 at the line.
Bangor Christian returns to action in a girls/boys road doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday at Greenville. Stearns boys play at Lee Academy Monday at 6:30, while the Minutemen girls host the Pandas on Tuesday at 6:30.
