Boys battle Bangor in double header by Matt Pascarella

JV

Windham came out with intensity. They had great teamwork and excellent ball control from the beginning. 

 #11 Anthony Gugliuzza, #12 Ryan Walker, #23 Hayden Bilodeau

Bangor was pressuring, but the Eagle’s defense was staving off Bangor’s force. Windham kept up the enthusiasm at the start of the second quarter, keeping a comfortable lead over Bangor. The Eagle’s solid offense and defense, kept Windham ahead in the first half.

At the half, Windham led 26-19.

At the start of the third quarter, Windham took to the court with a veracity, ready to shut down Bangor. Despite the Eagle’s lead, Bangor was not far behind.

Bangor was trying hard to steal this one, but the Eagles were not about to let that happen. With 4:24

#12 Ryan Walker, #13 Drew Curtis and #15 Sean Cunniffe

left on the clock, Windham was up by three. 

As the final minutes played out, the Eagles were capitalizing on any mistake Bangor made and worked to secure rebound opportunities.

Final score: 49-38, Windham.

“They played really well together; the attitudes were very, very good,” said Varsity Coach Chad Pulkkinen, filling in for Coach James Clark. “That allowed us to stay ahead. The first half, we got into a lot of foul trouble, which allowed [Bangor] to get a lot of points from the foul line. In the second half, we played with our feet a little bit better and came together as a group and made some great plays . . . everyone stuck together and that’s what basketball’s all about . . . guys all contributed from the bench.”

Varsity

Windham takes the court and immediately begins pressuring Bangor. The Eagles had good teamwork, moving the ball around quickly. Bangor was pressuring Windham, but the Eagles were pressuring back.

#3 Nick Curtis and #21 Dierhow Bol 

Windham had good offense and defense early on. 

Bangor had a small lead, but the Eagles were working hard to get back on top. Windham got several turnovers in the second quarter. Windham had worked hard and had done well to close the points gap.

At the half, the scoreboard read 30-26, Bangor.

The Eagles took the court determined to regain the lead in the second half. Windham continued moving up and down the court with speed and agility. They also doubled up their teamwork, passing quickly and moving the ball around, up and over Bangor’s players.

After the third quarter, the score was 44-42, Windham.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Windham was working to keep Bangor in the red. 

Both teams were putting the squeeze on each other and tensions were running high, on the court and in the stands. These final two quarters were heavy “edge of your bleacher seat action”; each team holding the lead for several moments.

Windham came together in the fourth quarter giving well over 100 percent. Every basket they made -

#5 Nathan Watson and #10 Nazari Henderson

the crowd went wild. Neither team was letting up. Three minutes left in the game. This was the definition of a nail biter.

With 1 minute 14 seconds on the clock, Cam Brown gets a turn over and ties the game up at 61. With 35 seconds left on the clock, Bangor is up by two. 

Now, with 23.5 seconds left Bangor is up by one. 

Windham pulls ahead 64-63 with 13.8 seconds left. 

Then Bangor is up by two with 7.3 seconds left in the game.

As the final play of the game, Windham went in for the layup to send the game in to overtime, but didn’t make it. 

Bangor won 66-64. 

Coach Chad Pulkkinen commented on the team and the game:

“We did a decent job; we had opportunities to steal the game and we came up short. Our guys did a good job sticking together towards the end and coming back, we had a chance to tie it up and then we took the lead and we went back and forth at the end. As a team we need to get back to work; we need to get better, learn from it and keep going. We’ll be ready and . . . more prepared next game.”