Frost stars despite being sick Championship win was best antidote

When Andy Frost woke up Saturday morning, he felt too sick to even get out of bed. When he went to sleep Saturday night, he felt pretty darn good.

Oh, he was still sick with a fairly bad case of the flu, but when you’ve just helped your team win its first Eastern Maine basketball title in more than a decade, those flu-like symptoms don’t seem quite so bad anymore.

“I thought it would be a lot worse than this,” said Frost.

Frost, who was white as a blank sheet during pregame warmups, looked shaky early and had to be taken out of the game to help him rest up, but even sick and reduced to maybe 60 percent of his playing ability, Calais’ sophomore guard still had plenty to contribute.

The 5-foot-11 guard showed why he was elected a team co-captain despite his youth as he led the team with 17 points and three steals, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out two assists as Calais edged George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill by two points.

“He looked like his legs weren’t under him, but he still put in double digits,” said GSA coach Matt Mattson. “Andy Frost is Andy Frost one way or another.”

Frost charged out of the locker room at halftime by scoring Calais’ first eight points, but it wasn’t a shot or a magic elixir he took, it was some friendly counsel.

“Woodland [girls] coach Arnie Clark came up to me and gave me a few good words of advice,” Frost said. “He just said we might never get back here and to leave it all out there on the court.”

That’s exactly what Frost did, much to Mattson’s dismay.

“I’ll have to kick Arnie Clark right in the rear end,” Mattson said with a smile. “He told me he was going to root for them, but that’s OK. He was coaching them when I played.”

If the flu wasn’t enough, Frost also had to leave the game with 2:13 left after scoring on a low post drive and then crashing to the floor on his hip. He walked off the court after a few minutes, and was noticeably pained by the injury even after returning after a few seconds of game action and a timeout.

“The kid had the flu and he was in there vomiting before the game, and then he hurt his back,” said fellow co-captain Joe Footer. “It shows a lot of character and a lot of heart to come back and play.”

“Andy gave us a big lift,” said senior starter James Provencher. “He wasn’t feeling well and he was still awesome today. He’s got guts.”

1,000 points can’t trump one title

It has been a storybook season for Calais standout Joe Footer.

The 6-foot-5 senior center led the Blue Devils back to the Eastern Maine Class C Tournament finals with an MVP-type of effort, was a key figure in a dramatic two-point victory for the program’s first regional title in 11 years, and – oh yeah – happened to score the 1,000th point of his varsity career in the process.

Footer needed just one hoop to eclipse the magical mark and got it on a high post jumper two minutes, 26 seconds into Saturday’s thrilling championship game.

Picking the biggest thrill was no contest for the soft-spoken center.

“I’d say this win’s 10 times better than that,” said Footer, who was congratulated over the public address system at the Bangor Auditorium after it happened.

“I heard it on the PA system and I was like thanks. Two seconds later we were back playing, so I’m glad I got it over with,” he said.

Typical low-key behavior from a premier post player.

“If people hadn’t told me, I don’t think I’d really know,” he said. “I don’t go home and say ‘Oh, I had that many points. I’m not like that. I just go out and play.”

For awhile, different people were telling him different things.

“There was a whole lot of confusion,” said Calais coach Keith Ogden. “I didn’t think I had the books from last year’s tournament games so I wasn’t counting them at first. Then we all went back through them the last week or so and made sure we weren’t doubling up with extra points.

“Joe didn’t care. He just wanted to win and knew if we kept winning, he’d get there eventually. Joe wants wins.”

That’s not to say his 1,011 career points don’t mean much.

“Oh yeah, sure, you can’t belittle a thousand points,” Footer said. “It’s something I’ll cherish forever and doing it in the Eastern Maine Tournament, there’s no better place to do it really.”