Bangor to keep ‘A’ hoop MPA not eyeing new tourney site

Speculation about the Eastern Maine Class A tournament moving from the Bangor Auditorium to the Augusta Civic Center seems to pop up every few years, and it’s no different this year, especially with the Bangor Auditorium’s uncertain future.

But tourney fans can rest easy. According to one member of the Maine Principals’ Association basketball committee, the Auditorium will be home to the EM Class A tourney for several more years.

Easton Elementary School principal Frank Keenan, who is on the Eastern Maine Class A committee, said there has been no discussion about going to the Augusta Civic Center in recent committee meetings.

Part of the reason the speculation was rekindled this year was the news in November that Presque Isle is moving to Class B next year. That will leave Old Town as the northernmost Class A school.

But Keenan said the MPA has a contract with the Bangor Auditorium for the next few years.

“I think every now and then you get a couple of schools that don’t share in our enthusiasm for playing in the Auditorium,” Keenan said. “… If they’re trying to win a championship they might think they have a better shot at the Civic Center.”

At some point the 48-year-old Auditorium will have to be renovated or replaced – last year the roof leaked onto the basketball court during an Eastern Maine Class D tourney game. Augusta and Alfond Arena in Orono have been mentioned as possible locations for the tourney if and when the Auditorium closes.

A study released in October by representatives of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Convention Sports & Leisure International validated the need for a new arena in the city. One consultant recently called the Auditorium and Civic Center the “second-worst facility in the country.”

“If there is a situation where the Auditorium does close, at least there’s a facility that will jump in and make a bid [on the tournament],” Keenan said.

Speculation of a move to Augusta could have also been sparked by talk that Lewiston and Edward Little of Auburn could move from Western Maine to Eastern Maine. But Keenan said that probably won’t happen any time soon, either, because the two regions are balanced at the moment.

Eastern Maine will have 19 teams next year. Western Maine has 18.

Keenan served on the MPA’s classification committee at the time when four Western Maine schools were moved to Eastern Maine to balance the two divisions. Leavitt of Turner, Oxford Hills of South Paris, Brunswick and Mount Ararat of Topsham all joined Eastern Maine in the 2001-02 season.

Bangor tennis players mourn Ylagan

About 15 past and present members of the Bangor High tennis team gathered Monday afternoon near the school’s tennis courts after coach Rick Ylagan’s sudden death early Saturday morning.

The group discussed establishing an annual tournament that would honor Ylagan’s memory and contribute money for a scholarship fund for his children, Sidney, 6, and Shane, 3.

Pat Frazier and Jeremy Yardley, seniors on last year’s Class A state championship team, plan to speak at Ylagan’s funeral and introduce the idea to establish a tennis tournament in the coach’s honor.

Ylagan, 39, died in his sleep at his Brewer home.

Friends may call from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Brookings-Smith in Brewer. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor.

“We’re excited and anxious to do something for his children and keep his memory fresh,” Frazier said. “We knew he cared about us and that’s why we played so hard for him.”

Many of the alumni who met Monday were home on winter vacation from college when they got the news of Ylagan’s death.

“I think we’re a little lost in shock,” Frazier said. “It’s one of those things that doesn’t have an explanation.”

Gifts in Ylagan’s memory may be sent to the Eric E. Ylagan Scholarship Fund, in care of Key Bank, 29 Bangor Mall Boulevard, Bangor, Maine, 04401.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.