Out on the Bangor Auditorium floor, moments after public address announcer Allan Snell had asked that spectators remain in the stands, hundreds of Bangor fans surrounded their boys basketball team in celebration.

It was the second time Saturday night that a group of folks from Bangor had refused to go along with conventional thinking.

The basketball team had just defied the odds by beating Brunswick 62-48 for the Eastern Maine Class A championship.

They weren’t supposed to, as Brunswick had rolled to a 20-0 record with two tourney wins by an average margin of 26 points. Few, save for Bangor’s fans, believed the Rams could beat the Dragons.

But the Rams were confident.

And it started before the players took the floor, in the Bangor locker room when senior standout Zak Ray addressed his team and reminded them of how the Rams had been humiliated by the Dragons last year in a 32-point quarterfinal loss. He reminded them of how it had felt.

“I had tears in my eyes and all. And we came out and played as hard as we could and something great came out of it,” Ray said.

Unlike some opponents, Bangor did not give in to the fear of playing Brunswick. How could this team be afraid? Before facing Brunswick, the Rams went 20-1 without having a single starter taller than 6-foot-1. Fear? Not a factor.

In fact, very early in the game, sophomore Aaron Gallant leaned in and wrestled the ball away from Brunswick star Ralph Mims – a virtual tugging of Superman’s cape.

And there was no fear in Bangor shooting guard Wesley Day’s eyes. He smothered Mims for much of the night, and when the talented Brunswick junior managed to get by him, another Ram was there standing in the way. Jordan Heath, P.J. Dowe, Mike Prentiss and Kevin Flynn stepped forward, volunteering their bodies for charge calls.

Flynn had been injured and missed the Rams’ quarterfinal win over Cony of Augusta and their semifinal victory with Nokomis of Newport. He gave the Rams a huge lift, scoring seven points.

“He had an enormous first half,” Day pointed out. “He hit some big shots, got some key rebounds. He was a huge key to this game.”

Ray, a Mr. Maine Basketball finalist, was truly Bangor’s leader. Whether breaking down a defender off the dribble or pulling up for a jump shot, Ray did it all. He made five steals, including one during an incredible sequence when he stripped Mims of the ball and then jumped on the dribble over the sprawled Brunswick player and raced up the floor.

And there was a moment early in the game when he took the ball at Mims, hesitated on the dribble, and blew by Mims for a layup. This, observers have pointed out, was not supposed to be able to happen. Not to a legitimate prospect for Division I college basketball like Mims. But Ray did it.

Ray also has not been as animated in a game this season as he was Saturday night. In the fourth quarter, as the Rams ran time off the clock with a dazzling display of ball control, Ray yelled at a younger teammate, directing him to where he should be.

“[My teammate] told me before the game that if I felt that he needed to get a swift kick in the butt, then give it to him because he wants to play as best as he can,” Ray explained.

And then, moments later when the silliest of silly rules was enforced and Ray was sent out of the game because his shirttail had come out of his trunks, Ray squatted at the scorer’s table, waiting to return to the game, shouting and loudly cheering his teammates.

When the shouting was over, Brunswick’s Mims sat on his team’s bench – head bent forward, covered by a towel. When his name was called to receive his runner-up medallion, Mims took his memento and walked over to the Bangor bench.

There he hugged the architect of his despair, Bangor coach Roger Reed. He congratulated Bangor’s players, seeking out Dowe, who scored only three points but left his heart on the floor.

And then the Bangor team mugged for the cameras. They told the state that they were No. 1 on live TV. They held up one finger in team photos for their parents’ and fans’ cameras.

And Ray and Day, wearing the baskets’ nets around their necks, celebrated. Ray received the congratulations of his good buddy and fellow Mr. Basketball finalist, Ryan McLellan of Nokomis.

McLellan’s teammate, Luke Hayden, offered his congratulations, as did Cony’s Jac Arbour. A regular who’s who of Eastern Maine high school basketball was on the floor.

And then Day described a play that occurred in the third quarter. The Rams were on the fast break, and Ray, with the ball in the middle, threw a no-look pass to Day on the right. Just as Day started to shoot, his front foot slipped but the ball went in.

“I can’t really describe it,” Day said. “It felt good when it left my hand.”

“It always feels good when it leaves your [own] hand,” Ray responded with a laugh, the tears of a locker room speech long since dried.