Bangor boys basketball uses defense to stifle Skowhegan

Bangor’s Alex Tennett, left, defends Skowhegan’s Jackson Newton during Tuesday’s game in Skowhegan. (Joe Phelan/Staff photographer)

SKOWHEGAN — Coming off back-to-back losses and down a key starter, the Bangor boys basketball team wasn’t exactly in an enviable position Tuesday.

What did the Rams do? They turned to their defense.

Bangor claimed a 44-36 victory over Skowhegan in a Class A North showdown. The Rams never trailed, bouncing back from losses to Mount Desert Island and Camden Hills with a victory over an upstart region foe.

“This was great,” said Bangor sophomore guard Harrison Fitzpatrick. “Coming off two losses, morale was on the lower side, but this win here will really boost our morale and help us get some momentum into the rest of the season.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bangor (3-2) forced Skowhegan into tough shots early. The Rams’ man-to-man defense severely limited the River Hawks’ shot selection, holding the home team to four points in the opening quarter. The Rams clamped down again in the third quarter to help build a double-digit lead.

“In order to win a championship, you’ve got to play defense first, and we pride ourselves on playing gritty, tough man-to-man defense,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “We’re still trying to find ourselves in terms of where we are as a team, but that’s something we always stress.”

• After the River Hawks (3-2) cut their deficit to 19-18 early in the second half, Bangor’s Wyatt Chandler hit a 3-pointer and was fouled, resulting in a four-point play. Skowhegan never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

“We’re a very big momentum team, so when we see the first couple rattle in and out, we kind of get down on ourselves a little bit,” said first-year Skowhegan coach Isaac Witham. “We really need to do a better job of figuring out, when things aren’t going well for us, what can we rely on?”

Nate Grunkemeyer (17 points) and Fitzpatrick (16) combined for three-quarters of Bangor’s points. Chandler’s 3 was the only basket by another Bangor player in the third quarter.

WHAT IT MEANS

Bangor prevailed despite missing Liam Vigue, who made six 3-pointers in the loss to MDI. The Rams are now back in the win column as they head into showdowns with Oxford Hills and Brewer to close out their 2025 slate.

“It’s just a question of, ‘How do you respond when things don’t go your way?’” Kemble said. “Against Camden Hills, we didn’t respond well in the fourth quarter, but tonight we responded well every time a punch was thrown, and that’s part of the whole growth process as a team. You have to turn the page.”

• Skowhegan missed a chance to establish itself in the upper echelon of Class A North early in the season. Still, the River Hawks have made significant progress in winning three of their first five games after a 1-17 season last winter.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“I think practice (yesterday) reflected tonight; I think we went into tonight thinking we were better than this team. With a starter being out for them, I’m not sure whether that crept into our head at all, but we just need to find ways to up the energy.” — Isaac Witham