BANGOR – The Bangor High School cheerleading squad was the final team to perform in the final round of Saturday night’s Big East Conference championship.

As the Rams hit their routine while other teams struggled in the final round, there was little doubt or surprise as to who would come out on top.

Instead, the surprise came in the second-place finish in the 13-team tournament at the Bangor Auditorium.

Bangor did win the competition, scoring 141.3 points to successfully defend its 2003 conference crown.

The runner-up? John Bapst of Bangor, which edged third-place Hampden by just 1.2 points.

“We’ve had a lot of confidence in this team since Day 1,” Bapst senior Megan Webster said. “We’ve been pushing really hard.”

The Crusaders of Bangor , who didn’t make callbacks last year, scored a 130.7, while the Broncos logged a 129.5.

Brewer, the second-place finisher at last year’s Class A state championships, was first after the preliminary round Saturday but finished in fourth place. Caribou was fifth, Ellsworth took sixth, and Presque Isle was seventh.

Those seven teams were called back from the first round. Each team performs its routine once in the early round, and the top 50 percent advance to the finals. Nokomis of Newport, Hermon, Old Town, Bucksport, Foxcroft and MDI also participated.

The Rams were second after the first round. Coach Stephanie Crane made a small change for the final round.

“We took out a twist [on a stunt dismount] from the prelim to the final because we got a warning on it,” Crane said. “We decided to just straight cradle it instead of twisting from it. I didn’t know if that would knock me down in points or not, but it was just about being clean.”

That sharpness helped the Rams increase their score by more than six points from the first round to the second.

Hitting those all-important stunts has been a big key for the Rams this year.

“Stunting is a main focus this year,” senior Sarah Glazier said. “We have about seven or eight stunts and we want to hit them perfectly, not bobble. Those are the little points that you can lose.”

The rest of Bangor’s team is made up of Khara Bennett, Tera Caldwell, Ashley Crockett, Elizabeth Gratwick, Elizabeth Hall, Lindsay Hill, Caitlyn Johnson, Amanda Lebel, Sara Maynard, Amanda Mitchell, Becky Rogers, Erica Rogers, Tiffany Sutherland, Kristen Thompson, Jessica Tweedie, and alternate Anmarie Reed.

The John Bapst team was elated after hearing its name called as the runner-up. It had been a tough 24 hours as Crusader Alise Jenkins injured her elbow Friday night, and alternate Brittany Hill competed in her place.

Coach Jen Townsend made the decision to insert Hill late Friday night, with input from Webster and fellow senior Tiffany Mayhew. Hill was in place when Bapst started practicing at 12:30 Saturday afternoon

The Class B Crusaders will likely use their success Saturday as a springboard for the rest of the season. Next up for local teams in Classes A and B is the Jan. 17 Penobscot Valley Conference big school meet at Mount Desert Island High School, followed by the Jan. 24 Eastern Maine championships at the Bangor Auditorium.

“There’s so much determination, so much dedication on this team,” Webster said.

Bapst wasn’t a surprise to at least one person in the Auditorium.

“We heard they were really good this year so we knew they would come in strong,” Bangor’s Glazier said.

Houlton wins PVC title

The Houlton cheerleading team made a successful move to Class C this year, picking up the Penobscot Valley Conference championship for Classes C and D Saturday at Stearns High in Millinocket.

The Shiretowners scored 141.9 points in the final round. Defending champion Orono was second with 133.8 and Sumner of East Sullivan came in third with a 117.3.

Central of Corinth finished fourth and Mattanawcook of Lincoln was fifth.

Houlton and Orono went into the final round in first and second place, respectively.

Houlton, a contender in Class B over the years, was fifth at the Big East Conference meet last year.

Bangor Christian, Katahdin of Sherman Station, Stearns, Penobscot Valley of Howland, and Dexter also participated in the first round.