BANGOR – If recent history was any indication, this was Brewer’s year. However, the Witches still had to prove it to the competition … and themselves.

The Witches won the Eastern Maine Class A Regional title in 1999, but the even years hadn’t been as kind as Brewer was runnerup in both 1998 and 2000.

Thanks to a near-flawless preliminary round routine which boosted the youthful Witches’ confidence, they continued their pattern with a five-point victory over runnerup Bangor (79.5 to 74.5).

“The girls worked so hard all year, but the last couple competitions, we just didn’t hit what we needed to hit,” said second-year Brewer coach Kristie Reed. “At this point, I didn’t care what we did. I just wanted to hit our routine. I never thought I’d say that, but I mean it. I’m just so excited.”

With only four seniors and a nucleus of eight sophomores, leadership and confidence would be two key factors governing Brewer’s fortunes. The first of those was handled ably by co-captains Amanda Hamm and Erin Knowles along with classmates Lauren Meehan and Angela DeBeck.

“I feel like we’ve earned this position,” said Knowles. “We worked our butts off to get here and I’m so proud of our girls. We knew we wanted to do this our senior year and it was our last chance, so we kind of drove everybody and ourselves in practice.”

Reed said the Witches were all business last week.

“There was a different air at practice this week, and I didn’t even have to bring it in,” Reed explained. “The girls were serious.”

Not that the seniors had to be slave drivers. Juniors Samantha Floyd, Jessica Ryerson and Natasha Worcester; sophomores Ashley Bean, Christina Bush, Leah Cameron, Erica Commeau, Heather Hart, Jamei Lauren Parker and Sara Patterson; and freshmen Monica Tardiff, Riley Godley (alternate) and Margo Relford (alternate) all seemed to sense what was on the line after finishing second in the Penobscot Valley Conference finals.

“Coming in second might have motivated us,” said Hamm. “The confidence we finally had helped us project ourselves better, and we had problems with that this year.”

Thanks to a gutsy effort from sophomore Sarah Eremita, the Rams also took a trophy home.

“She got injured at the very beginning of the [final] routine, but went all the way through,” said coach Stephanie Crane. “She asked for help on the way out to the awards, though.”

The Rams are even younger than Brewer with just no seniors.

“This is definitely one to grow on,” Crane said with a laugh.

Eastern Maine Class A championships

Finals: 1. Brewer 79.5, 2. Bangor 74.5, 3. Gardiner 71.0, 4. Nokomis 68.5, 5. Lawrence 65.5, 6. Hampden Academy 65.0

Preliminary round: 1. Brewer 82.0, 2. Bangor 74.5, 3. Hampden 71.0, 4. Gardiner 70.5, 5. Nokomis 69.0, 6. Lawrence 65.5, 7. Cony 61.0, 8. Caribou 57.0, 8. Messalonskee 51.0, 9. Mt. Blue 49.0, 10. Medomak Valley 48.5