John Tennett watched helplessly from the sidelines when Bangor and Old Town played their Class A regular-season basketball finale Feb. 18 at Bangor High School.

The Bangor senior had been diagnosed with mononucleosis. And, at the time, there was some doubt whether he would ever play basketball for the Rams again.

In Tennett’s own mind, there was never any question. And when Bangor took the floor at the Bangor Auditorium for Saturday night’s Eastern Maine Class A championship game against Old Town, Tennett was determined to make up for lost time.

Tennett scored seven straight baskets on his way to a season-high 21 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, to lead Bangor to a 63-53 victory over the Indians in front of an estimated 5,200 fans.

Coach Roger Reed’s 18-3 Rams, who claimed their second consecutive regional crown, will play Western Maine titlist South Portland (19-2) Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium in a rematch of the 1992 state championship game.

The Indians of Marty Clark finished a superb season at 20-1.

Tennett saved his best effort of the season for the EM final.

“There was no doubt in my mind I was playing, no matter what happened,” Tennett said. “It was my senior year and I wanted to come out and go out with a bang. I didn’t want to lose tonight, because I wanted South Portland again.”

Bangor turned in a well-rounded team effort, but it was Tennett who stepped to the forefront. The versatile, 6-foot-3 guard scored six points to spark a 12-4 spurt that gave the Rams their first lead (34-33) at 4:27 of the third.

Yet, it wasn’t until nine minutes later that Bangor made its move. After seven ties and two lead changes in the previous seven minutes, the Rams went to their spread and double high-post offenses.

Rather than sit back and wait for something to happen, Bangor used the looks to attack. Reed scored off a driving baseline move with 3:18 to play, then answered a free throw by OT’s Benjie Blake with another baseline layup at 2:23, giving Bangor a 52-49 lead.

“We thought if we could get Mark and John being patient, yet with a chance of pace, they might be able to break by those guys for easy baskets,” Coach Reed said. “The idea was to control the ball from being in (Matt) Arsenault’s hands late in the game.”

With Tennett running the point, the Rams continued to milk the clock and make the Indians foul. Ryan Bradford made the front end of a bonus with 1:11 to play, but Arsenault countered with a 10-footer from the lane to cut Bangor’s lead to 53-51 with 1:05 left.

However, the Indians didn’t manage another field goal and the Rams converted on 10 of 13 from the foul line to clinch it.

“We were patient and focused on what we wanted to do,” Mark Reed said. “We just came up big in the clutch. I think that’s what’s important and that’s one of the most impressive things about this team.”

Tennett complemented his scoring with eight rebounds, three assists and tough defense on Arsenault. Reed tossed in 12 of his 17 points in the second half and added three assists.

Seniors Chris Pickering (8 points, 6 rebounds), Bradford (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Dean Heistand (7 points) all made key contributions, as did backup sophomore forward Nat Clark.

Arsenault ended a brilliant career with 21 points, while Steve Pooler provided 18 points (12 in the first half) and a game-high 16 rebounds. Scott Springer added six points and nine rebounds.

With Old Town leading 33-28 at 6:47 of the third, Tennett split the Indians defense with a pump move in the lane, then drove in for a nifty finger roll 25 seconds later.

“He was an inspiration to everybody, that’s for sure,” Coach Reed said of Tennett. “He has only one way, that’s wide-open and hard. He’s never out of it.”

Bangor, which had trailed by 11 (19-8) early in the second quarter, took the lead when Reed made a 12-foot jumper at the 4:27 mark. Reed then hit a short pull-up jumper from the paint and the Rams knew they were back in business.

“We got down early, but we didn’t get down in our spirits,” Mark Reed said. “We never felt that we were going to lose. In the second half we came out and John had a huge game, and (Chris) Pickering really stepped up. We just really wanted the game.”

Foul trouble hindered Old Town’s effectiveness. Senior forward Springer, the Indians’ top defensive player, picked up his fourth foul at 4:46 of the third quarter. Senior forward Cory Madden was already out with three.

However, Old Town was able to keep pace behind the efforts of Pooler and Arsenault. Pooler scored twice from inside and Arsenault canned a pair of foul-line jumpers in the final 2:20 of the third to make it 42-42 with a quarter to play.

Rams 63, Indians 53

Bangor boys Old Town

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Tennett 12 8 6 5 21 Arsenault 25 8 6 5 21

Reed 16 6 6 5 17 Pooler 12 7 2 2 18

Pickering 6 4 1 0 8 Springer 11 3 0 0 6

Bradford 8 3 4 2 8 Blake 7 1 2 1 4

Heistand 4 1 4 4 7 Madden 1 0 2 2 2

Clark 1 1 0 0 2 Morrison 3 1 0 0 2

Murray 0 0 0 0 0 Shorette 3 0 0 0 0

Kimball 1 0 0 0 0

McCannell 1 0 0 0 0

Totals 47 23 21 16 63 Totals 64 20 12 10 53

Bangor 8 24 42 63

Old Town 17 29 42 53

3-pt. goals: Bangor (1-6): Heistand 1-2, Tennett 0-1, Bradford 0-3; Old Town (3-16): Pooler 2-2, Blake 1-4, Springer 0-1, Shorette 0-3, Arsenault 0-6