By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

BUCKFIELD – Cam Cowett wasn’t too concerned.

Though a couple of 3-pointers had helped Rangeley burst out to an early lead Wednesday, the Buckfield boys’ basketball coach didn’t fret.

He knew once his Bucks started playing defense, the deficit would turn around soon enough.

“The pressure is what it’s all about with our kids,” said Cowett. “If you don’t get them in the flow of the game early on with pressure defense, we don’t seem to play well. But if we apply a little bit of pressure and get a few breaks, the early deficit doesn’t bother us too much.

“We just know with the pressure defense, something good is going to come out of it.”

Sure enough, the Bucks started playing defense and got its offense rolling as a result. A late surge in the opening quarter helped turn the tide, and Buckfield never looked back in a 74-51 win.

“We had 39 points in the first half and the last time we played them we had 41 points overall,” Cowett said of the seasoning opening win in Rangeley.

The Bucks (7-5) finished with a balanced attack. Justin Dodge led all scorers with 21 points while Jamie Henderson had 14, Jeff Bennett 13 and Danny Hayes added 10. Rangeley received 18 points from David Jensen and 12 from Justin Gallant.

“We just fell back into a mode, it seems like,” said Rangeley coach Tom Philbrick. “We’ve been struggling with that.”

The Lakers were up 11-5 on 3-pointers from James Raymond and Jensen. Another 3 by Gallant maintained the lead at 14-8. The shots then stopped falling, and turnovers followed in bunches. Rangeley (2-8) turned the ball over six times in the first quarter and eight times in the second.

“There was too much dribbling and not enough passing,” said Philbrick. “I thought we had some opportunities up ahead, and we didn’t capitalize.”

The Bucks hit eight of their first 12 shots in the opening quarter. Henderson started Buckfield’s 12-0 run that turned the table. He hit a 3-pointer and then scored on a fast break. After a Bennett basket, Henderson hit a 3-pointer and scored off a steal for a 20-14 advantage.

Buckfield finished with seven 3-pointers, five coming from Dodge.

“That’s unbelievable,” said Cowett. “We haven’t shot that good all year. Last game we had, we hit two outside shots the whole game.”

Buckfield added to the lead in the second quarter. Midway through the quarter, a Dodge steal started a 10-1 surge. Dodge also added a 3-pointer during that stretch while Hayes and Jared Martin added buckets.

Rangeley opened the quarter hitting just one of its first seven shots.

Down by 39-27 at the half, the Lakers got a basket from Jensen to start the second half, but Buckfield nixed any comeback with a 12-3 run. Chris Reuter had six points during that stretch.