Bapst confident about its jump to `A’> Boys, girls basketball and ice hockey programs feel they can compete at top level

BANGOR – In the 1960s, fans flocked to the Bangor Auditorium to watch schoolboy basketball rivals Bangor, John Bapst, and Brewer play for bragging rights.

All-Maine choices Paul Eggert, Ron Soucie, and Charlie Greer were among the standouts at John Bapst, then a Catholic high school.

John Bapst Memorial High School of Bangor, which last competed head to head with those cross-town and cross-river rivals in 1972, wants to rekindle that fierce competitive atmosphere.

John Bapst athletic director and boys basketball coach Bob Cimbollek announced Wednesday that beginning in 1998-99, the Crusaders’ basketball and ice hockey teams will compete in Class A.

Cimbollek, flanked by principal Joe Sekera, girls basketball coach Len Miragliuolo, hockey coach Ray Thibodeau, trustees Jim Stoneton and Mike McInnis, and seven students, revealed the plan in John Bapst’s Purple and White Room.

“We feel that this will help our total athletic program,” Cimbollek said. “It’s just not directed at one or two sports. I think the time has come for us to make this move.”

John Bapst officials hope the move will entice even more quality student-athletes to attend the private school of 450 students.

“We offer more athletics, as well as top academics, than any other high school in the state,” Stoneton said. “And I think the combination of `A’ athletics, with our academic curriculum, is far and away the best choice for high school students in the area.”

Bapst coaches are confident their teams will be competitive with the likes of Bangor, Brewer, and Old Town in Class A, which includes schools with enrollments of 650 or more.

“We have a year to get ready, and next year we’ll still be in `B,’ ” said Cimbollek, whose team routinely plays Class A programs in summer leagues. “I think it would be a normal transition.”

The move is a boon to the Big East Conference, which was reduced to seven teams when Stearns of Millinocket moved to Class B in 1993.

“We would love to have them,” said Presque Isle High principal Frank Keenan. “That would make it perfect. We’d be back to eight teams and 14 games in the league.”

Cimbollek said John Bapst has a standing invitation from Big East athletic directors to join their ranks. They’ll vote on it next fall.

Cimbollek said increased costs incurred for travel to Caribou and Presque Isle should be recouped through increased gate receipts for home games at the Auditorium.

The Crusaders last played Class A ball in 1971-72. That ended 43 years in the big-school ranks for Bapst, the only Maine school to win Eastern Maine boys basketball titles in all four classes.

The Crusaders were regional champs in 1942, when all schools played together. Bapst won the D state title in 1982 under Bill McManus, then claimed the Class C state crown in 1989 and ’90, and won the Class B gold ball in ’93, all under Cimbollek.

“We’ve played a lot of `A’ teams in the past and we haven’t had too much trouble, so I don’t think it would be that much of a step for everyone to adjust to,” said basketball player Mike Mathien. “We’re real excited.”

Miragliuolo, who has guided the John Bapst girls team to numerous tournament berths, said his program is capable of stepping up.

“I think basketball is basketball. I’ve always felt that,” he said. “If there’s a transition between `B’ and `A’ and we happen to take our lumps during that time, so be it.”

Player Heather Evans knows the move represents a challenge.

“There’s always that thought that they’re in a higher class and we’re in a lower class and we’re moving up, so it will be harder for us,” she said. “I think it will, but if we work on it, we can improve.”

Thibodeau said his hockey program has held its own with Class A programs and should be fine. His players are equally confident they’ll be able to make the switch.

“We’re pretty excited for it,” said Nate Waring. “It’s going to help draw people to the school, more athletes, and it is an academic school, so they’re going to come for that, too.”