AUGUSTA — There was no such thing as a Class AA North boys’ basketball tournament single-game scoring record before Thursday night.

Andrew Fleming of Oxford Hills might own it for a while. The University of Maine-bound senior exploded for 42 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, powering No. 3 Oxford Hills to a convincing 71-47 quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Bangor at Augusta Civic Center.

“He was the difference,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said, “He played like a man possessed. They had no answer. It was quite a performance.”

Fleming’s brother, Matthew, a freshman, added 13 points and a team-high 16 rebounds for the Vikings (15-4), who fill face Deering in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Ethan Dorman scored 16 points to lead Bangor.

Oxford Hills and Bangor (5-14) split their two regular-season games heading into the inaugural AA showcase. The Vikings didn’t allow the Rams to hatch any hopes of an upset, leading 9-0 out of the gate and using a 12-0 run to lead 35-20 at the half.

“We knew what we did wrong (in the loss to Bangor). We wanted to execute on what we did wrong, and I think we did that very well,” Andrew Fleming said. “We knew where they were. In the game we lost, we lost their players sometimes and they got open shots. Tonight they didn’t have any open shots.”

Dorman scored eight in the first quarter to help the Rams make a game of it for a while. Logan Alley also had a 3-pointer in the period, and a bucket from George Payne boosted Bangor to within one point in the closing seconds.

Jake Beauchesne’s 28-footer at the horn restored a 19-15 Oxford Hills edge.

It was still a three-point game at 23-20 after Dorman rained down a shot from the top of the key with 3:38 remaining in the half, but the Rams didn’t score again until well into the third quarter. Freshman Colton Carson’s blocked shot led to an Andrew Fleming 3-point play, quickly doubling the lead.

Matthew Fleming collected two points off a putback, and his big brother supplied seven without interruption in the final 59 seconds.

“We had to stretch. We took George (Payne) out and they went on an 11-0 run. Now a 4-point game became a 15-point game, and we’re not experienced enough and talented enough to overcome that,” Bangor coach Carl Parker said. “Now, if you took Fleming out, maybe we’d have a chance. He’s a great player.”

Fleming was relentlessly consistent with 11 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 11 in the third and eight before the benches emptied midway through the fourth.

The exclamation point was an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Chris St. Pierre, set up by a Blake Slicer steal.

“When we played them the other two times, Andrew had 30 both games, but we didn’t do much around him. We forced shots. He forced shots. We got down early both games,” Graffam said. “If he plays like that, we’ve got a chance.”

Oxford Hills shot 47 percent from the field while holding Bangor to 27 percent. The Rams also missed 10 free throws, including six of nine in the first half.

The Vikings hit five of their first six tries out of intermission to build a 50-24 disparity. St. Pierre had a fast break basket and Matthew Fleming drained a 3-pointer to complement Andrew Fleming’s onslaught.

After reaching the Class A North final two years ago, Oxford Hills suffered a one-sided loss to Messalonskee in the 2015 opening round.

That day the Vikings were outplayed by Nick Mayo, now a freshman sensation at Division I Eastern Kentucky. Bangor knows the feeling.

“Everyone was playing well for our team. Defensively we were playing really well, and that just led to offense,” Fleming said. “Being relaxed (was important). There was a lot of emotion. If you can just control the emotion, it works out well.”

Payne added eight points for Bangor, which hasn’t won a game at the civic center since 2012.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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