Bangor Rams have ‘house,’ ‘governor,’ gold ball

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Scenes from a Saturday night.

At 6:20 p.m. the student body sections were in full voice at the Bangor Auditorium. It was 45 minutes before the scheduled tip-off of the Class A boys basketball state championship game and the catcalls had already started.

“This is our house,” the Bangor side chanted.

“You can have it,” the Cheverus of Portland fans responded. Another precinct heard from affirming that the old barn needs replacing.

Bangor appeared to win the war of words when Gov. John Baldacci entered the building and took a seat on the Bangor side. Baldacci is a Bangor High alum.

“We’ve got the governor,” Bangor chanted.

No response from the Cheverus crowd, such as the anticipated “you can have him.” Perhaps, an indication that the governor’s honeymoon period with the state has not yet come to an end.

But then, after a brief silence, the Cheverus crowd came back with, “We’ve got Jesus,” a reference to the school’s Catholic background.

The teams took the floor and their demeanors were quite different.

While Bangor was serious in its approach, Cheverus appeared much looser. The Stags were smiling, looking into the stands, waving at people, talking to people.

And once the game began it took Bangor some time to settle in. But they did.

Question. Was this as good as the Deering-Bangor game of a couple of years ago?

I don’t know. But this game had its share of huge moments, things people will never forget.

Who will forget the image of Bangor’s Mike Prentiss leaning against and fronting the much taller Cheverus center Jeff Holme? It was almost a comical disparity in size. Yet Prentiss fought tooth and nail against his much larger adversary. He made the big guy work for every inch of space he won.

How about Cheverus’ Andrew Ward, all 6-foot-3 of him diving after loose balls and chasing Bangor’s Zak Ray all over the floor?

And Ward’s class when it was all over, praising his opponents even while being overcome by emotion?

Perhaps the most vivid image for me was the look of relief on Ray’s face when a last-second Cheverus shot at winning the game in regulation clanged off the front of the basket.

But there were more. How about Bangor’s Jordan Heath pumping his fist after making a “NO, NO, DON’T TAKE THAT!” straightaway 22-footer with a 6-3 defender running and screaming at him?

Then it was Ray again, with a behind-the-back dribble at midcourt in the closing seconds that left two defenders wondering where he had gone.

Then there were hugs and tears. Many of both. Flashbulbs and TV cameras. Reporters. Nets around necks and one gold ball being passed around.

Heath, who has said he isn’t comfortable being interviewed, (“I’m not good at this,” he once said), was smiling and having no trouble finding words for a reporter.

In the back, while Bangor celebrated, Cheverus had gone to the locker room. The hallway was empty except for a Maine Principals’ Association rep.

In the Cheverus outer locker room area, Stags’ coach Bob Brown sat staring at the floor.

His team had been confident that their size would win out over the much smaller Bangor team.

They were confident but didn’t play as if they were over-confident. Brown is too good a coach to have allowed that to happen. But still, when the day ended, confidence had given way to disappointment.

He answered questions but was clearly troubled before finally stopping and apologizing.

“I’m not a very good interview tonight,” Brown offered.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net.