FARMINGTON — One 3-pointer is a mere nuisance.

Allowing a second 3 was a bit problematic.

Giving up a third consecutive shot from long distance created a sizable deficit from which Mt. Blue never quite recovered.

Bangor opened its KVAC showdown with a trio of 3-pointers and quickly opened a double-digit lead.

“That used to be our weakness — not being able to shoot,” Bangor coach Joe Johnson said. “But now, we’re starting to hit them.”

Sarah Bragg hit a pair and Mary Butler drilled one as the Rams opened a quick lead. Though Mt. Blue tried to rally with a solid second half, the Cougars couldn’t erase the early deficit. Bangor held off the Cougars for the 54-41 win.

“That’s definitely a tough way to start against a quality team like that,” Mt. Blue coach Gavin Kane said. “I mentioned it to the girls that if we hadn’t dug ourselves such a hole, maybe we’re right with them the whole way.”

Mt. Blue was down by as many as 13 in the first quarter and 20 in the second quarter. Still, the Cougars battled back and got within six late in the third and eight twice in the fourth.

“Defensively we had a bounce in our step in the second half,” Kane said. “We had a couple of nice runs. If we could have gotten one or two more stops  maybe we make it very interesting at the end. Unfortunately, when we needed them, being the veteran team that Bangor is, they moved the ball really well and actually got a couple easy baskets on us. That’s a little deflating when you work that hard and try to scrap your way back in.”

Cordelia Stewart led the Rams (14-1) with 16 points while Katie Butler added 12 and Bragg finished with 11. Addie Brinkman led the Cougars (9-5) with 16. Caitlin Kane had 12 points, five rebounds and five steals while Eryn Doiron had nine points.

“They played hard,” Johnson said. “They’re a competitive team. They defended real hard and they made it real hard at the end. They made a really good run at us. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do next, especially with Cordelia getting in foul trouble. We’ve got some bench and we’ve got some height all the way around.”

Bangor, ranked second in Eastern A, beat Mt. Blue 50-39 earlier in the season. The Rams possess a trio of six-footers and create matchup problems for the Cougars, ranked fifth.

“I’m so envious of their height,” said Kane, whose team continues a tough stretch with Lawrence and Edward Little next week. “Not only do they have that size but they’re talented athletes. They can see over the tops. It’s very, very tough for us with their size differential to trap them like we do. We made a run at them but they came up with some big plays.”

The Rams opened the game with a 13-0 run. Bragg took the first shot of the game and drilled a 3. Mary Butler, who finished with seven points, hit the next one. Then Bragg hit another for a quick 9-0 lead.

Mt. Blue missed  its first five shots and had four turnovers in the early going. Bangor turned the ball over just once in the first.

Katie Butler and Emily Gilmore added baskets to make it 13-0. Mt. Blue didn’t score until a Brinkman basket in the post with 3:33 left. Brinkman had all six points for the Cougars, which trailed the Rams 17-6 after the first.

“We hung our heads a little bit early when we got down 13-0, but after that, I thought our kids battled hard and competed extremely well,” Kane said.

The Rams were up 27-7 at one point in the second. The Cougars had an 8-2 run on free throws by Kane, Doiron and a basket by Lauren Guppy. Then a three-point play by Kane ended the half with Bangor up 29-17.

The Cougars picked up the pace in the third. The defensive intensity increased and Mt. Blue managed to make things happen offensively. The Cougars got within 35-29 with 2:51 left in the quarter after five straight points from Kane.  With Bangor’s post players nursing foul trouble, Kane scored on one rebound and then battled hard for another that led to a three-point play. Bangor opened the lead again with a basket by Mary Butler and a 3 by Bragg. Doiron hit a 3 in the final minute and nearly hit another at the buzzer. Bangor was up 40-32 entering the fourth.

“The way he mixes up the defenses, it gets us confused a little bit,” Johnson said. “Once we started to figure it out and weren’t getting rattled, we started attacking the basket again. We’re tough to stop around the basket.”

Bangor bumped the lead back to 12 with scores by  Katie Butler and Hailee Campbell, but Brinkman hit a jumper and Kane sank two free throws to make it 44-36 with 4:07 left. After two free throws by Stewart, Brinkman scored in the post with 3:18 to make it 46-38. That’s as close as the Cougars would get.

Stewart scored six straight points to break the lead open for good.

“I think it’s situations like that where you just have to stay as poised as possible,” Stewart said. “You keep your composure and you just do what you do in practice.”

Stewart scored on a press breaker and then put back a rebound. She added two free throws in the final minute for a 52-38 lead.

“I think we played really well as a team there,” Stewart said. “We held it together, which is nice especially towards the end of the season. We’ve had some good experiences with that this year. Some close calls, but we’re getting some nice practice.”

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