Catching that annual tourney fever

It’s magical.

It’s a week-long basketball extravaganza in which high school kids, aged 14 to 18, can shine in front of thousands of their friends, fans, and family.

At the end of the tunnel, a gold basketball. It signifies being the best of the best. The track leading there – to the ultimate goal of a state basketball championship – is full of memories that participants can take home with them forever. It’s a rush of pressure, intensity, and nerves.

Call it tourney fever.

What does the Eastern Maine regional basketball tournament mean to its participants?

“As a player, it was a chance for me and my team to prove that we could compete with teams down there,” said Matt Rossignol, the high-scoring guard who is now coaching a tournament-bound team at Houlton High School. “Coming from Van Buren, it was always one of our goals. We wanted to go to the tournament and win.”

From day one of the basketball season, the tournament is already weighing on the minds of players and coaches alike.

“It’s usually the first thing we mention to the kids in preseason,” said Presque Isle girls coach Dick Barstow. “The kids are always aware of the fact that the final goal is to reach the Bangor Auditorium.”

Ah, yes, the Bangor Auditorium, the aging 6,000-seat arena that sits just off of Main Street in Bangor, shadowing the Paul Bunyan statue. The heroes and heroines who have come out of that building during the late winter months are too numerous to mention.

During tournament time, the building is the central location for all the action. Some days the first game can begin at 8 a.m. and the last contest can wind up after 11 p.m., some 15 hours later.

It’s a haven where memories are born, and legends are made.

“There are so many good memories that you can’t catapult one above another,” said Barstow, who was at the helm of one those memories last season when the third-ranked Presque Isle Wildcats pulled off three straight upsets to win the state Class A championship.

The fever that comes with tournament week is not just limited to the building in which the event is staged.

Towns and communities come together to support their teams. People, parents and fans alike, plan family vacations around this special sports spectacle.

“In Sherman Station, it was a little more noticeable,” said Barstow, who has also coached in tourney games for Katahdin of Sherman Station and Central Aroostook in Mars Hill. “A lot of people working at the mills would sign up for vacations during the tournament week way ahead. When I was in Mars Hill, we had great support.”

While the advent of television and other activities have taken away the glamour of the event for some fans, the fans of yesteryear were something special.

“I remember coming back to Old Town after we won a state championship,” said Skip Chappelle, former University of Maine men’s coach who played his high school ball in Old Town in late ’50s. “The whole downtown area was just plugged with cars, people waiting for us to get back. It was a wild situation.”

When the balls are first thrown out onto the courts in November, 279 teams statewide are hoping to get a chance of playing in their regional tournament. In the end, 128 teams get to go to the first round. Only eight of them will end their seasons with a win – and a state championship.

“Speaking as a player,” Chappelle said, “I’m sure its the same feeling as today. I’m not sure it has changed at all. The tournament is the highlight of the season, and positioning for a spot helps keep the season going.”