Bangor boys gain top spot> Old Town is first in girls standings

Neither of the defending Eastern Maine Class A champions will have a chance to defend their titles as both the Mt. Blue boys of Farmington and the Presque Isle girls finished one slot out of the top eight spots.

The final Heal point standings make the Bangor boys and Old Town girls the teams to beat as the Eastern Maine Class A basketball tournament opens Friday night with two quarterfinal games.

Roger Reed’s 17-1 Rams will try to advance to their fourth straight appearance in an Eastern Maine final while Garry Spencer’s 17-1 Old Town girls bring in an undefeated record against Class A competition this season.

On the boys side, Bangor finished with a 17-1 mark and 169.28 tournament index points. Mike Nelson’s Skowhegan team is No. 2 with 143.08 and a 15-3 mark.

The next six, in order, are Cony of Augusta, Presque Isle, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, Caribou, Waterville, and Hampden Academy, which squeaked by into the eighth and final tourney spot with 78.57 points – 2.16 points ahead of Mt. Blue.

In the girls standings, No. 2 Cony of Augusta is the only team in the tourney field without a loss at 18-0. The third- through eighth-ranked teams are Mt. Blue, Bangor, Hampden, Messalonskee of Oakland, Skowhegan, and Gardiner which edged defending state champ Presque Isle by 2.35 points.

There will be no eight-game quarterfinal marathon day at the Bangor Auditorium this year as the Class A tournament committee changed the format this year to include one boys and one girls quarterfinal (the 4-5 matchups) in a 3:10 p.m. Friday afternoon session with the other six games beginning at 11:10 a.m. Saturday.