AUGUSTA – It took a little bit for the Bangor Christian School boys basketball team to get into any sort of rhythm in the Class D final Saturday afternoon.

But once the shots started falling, the Warriors were well on their way to making some history.

Siblings Jalen and Rajon Reed combined to score 32 points and Bangor Christian parlayed a strong second half into a 44-31 victory over Valley before about 2,000 fans at the Augusta Civic Center. It was the first state title in program history.

“It feels great (to win),” said Jalen Reed, who led the Patriots (19-3) with 19 points. “Being the first one (to win a title), representing our school and the Lord, it means so much to us. It’s incredible.”

Rajon Reed added 13 points for the Patriots.

Harry Louis led Valley with 15 points, while Fisher Tewksbury added eight. The Cavaliers, who were trying to win their eighth Gold Ball, finished 17-5.

It’s the first time the Patriots beat the Cavaliers in a Class D final. Valley beat the Patriots 67-66 in 2002 and 58-46 in 2003.

A strong third quarter ultimately lifted the Patriots to their first state title. Down 13-12 at halftime, Bangor Christian outscored Valley 23-9. The Reeds accounted for 16 of the 23 points, with Jalen scoring nine and Rajon adding seven.

Play was slow in the first half. Valley pulled ahead late in the second quarter, thanks to a 6-0 run, to take a 13-12 lead into halftime. Louis scored nine points for the Cavaliers in the first half, all off 3-pointers.

“In the first half, our shots weren’t hitting,” Jalen Reed said. “In the second half, we were positive, there was no negativity. We just knew in the second half we were going to come back and hit shots, and that’s what happened.”

Valley’s Collin Nichols and Bangor Christian’s Elliot Straubel (24) dive for a loose ball in the Class D boys basketball state championship Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“It was certainly a grind in the first half for us,” Bangor Christian head coach Charlie Colson added. “I told the kids, ‘look, this is not the worst thing in the world, to be down 13-12, because that’s where we wanted the score, and I had confidence in us that we were going to hit shots. It turned out we did.

“(Valley) defended like a whirling dervish. They’re a fantastic, well-coached team. They have incredible athletes. We were fortunate to get them now, because their younger players are just going to get better.”

Bangor Christian did hit its shots in the second half. Elliot Straubel also scored five of his seven points for the Patriots in the quarter.

“Right off the bat, we hit some threes and that definitely helped our confidence a lot,” Jalen Reed said. “After that, our intensity was so high. Our defense was great, too.”

Bangor Christian’s Jalen Reed high fives his coach after beating Valley in the Class D boys basketball state championship Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Valley tried to come back in the fourth, with Louis scoring five points. But foul trouble kept the Cavaliers from gaining ground on the Patriots.

“It was a tough-fought battle,” Valley head coach Mike Staples said. “(Bangor Christian) is definitely a tough team, they deserved to win. They did very good today, shot the ball well. Defensively, they bothered us. They got a lot of hands on balls, they’re long. They bothered us on defense, there’s no doubt about it, it was pretty obvious.

“Our kids battled, they battled back in that first half, after getting down six points or so. Going in at halftime, I felt good, I feel like we weathered the storm. (Bangor Christian) made that little run in the third quarter and we just never recovered.”

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