BANGOR – Once upon a time while stationed with the U.S. Army in Fort Bragg, N.C., Mike Warman jumped out of airplanes as part of his duties.

So filling in as the coach of an undefeated boys basketball team before a couple thousand fans at the Bangor Auditorium is easy, right?

“There were a few jitters,” admitted the Calvary Chapel of Orrington assistant who stepped in Monday for ailing head coach Ross Bradford during the Sabers’ 87-63 Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal win over Van Buren. “But I used to jump out of airplanes, so I guess a little nervousness is good.”

Warman is a veteran soccer and basketball coach, but Monday’s quarterfinal was his varsity basketball debut.

“It was a great feeling,” said Warman. “We’d all rather [Ross] would be here so I wouldn’t have had to do this, but the boys responded well.”

According to sophomore guard Brock Bradford, one of two of the head coach’s sons on the team, Ross Bradford hasn’t felt well in recent weeks and last was with the squad last weekend.

“He was at our scrimmage last Saturday, but he wasn’t feeling good then,” said Brock Bradford. “He’s been feeling real sick. We think it’s something like the flu. They’ve put him on antibiotics, and he decided to stay home today, and hopefully he’ll be feeling better and can be back with us Thursday [when 19-0 Calvary Chapel meets East Grand of Danforth in its semifinal].”

Calvary got off to a sluggish start against Van Buren, but surged late in the second quarter to a 40-26 lead and pulled away after intermission.

“Coach Warman has been there with us all year,” said Brock Bradford. “It was a little different, but we just went out and tried to play the way we usually do.”

Vikings’ Parker comes of age

There’s little doubt that East Grand of Danforth senior guard Darius Parker is the reigning elder statesman of Eastern Maine Class D basketball.

As a freshman, he helped the Vikings win the 2001 Eastern Maine championship, and he’s been a standout ever since – scoring 26 points to lead East Grand past Hodgdon in Monday’s Class D quarterfinals.

“Darius had a great freshman year,” said East Grand coach Troy Cilley. “He’s started every game since he’s been at East Grand. He started his first game when he was 14 years old. When he got to the Auditorium that year we won Eastern Maine and then played Valley, which was a high-profile game.

“So everyone remembers Darius, and the way he played a lot of people probably assumed he was a junior or senior back then. But that was four years ago.”

In fact, Parker has been on the Eastern Maine basketball stage for so long that some people can’t believe it.

Earlier this winter, he was the subject of an Internet-driven rumor that he was 20, too old to play in this year’s tournament.

“People called,” Cilley said. “Other coaches have come to our place for a game and asked us how old he really was and whether he was going to be eligible to play in the tournament. But he’s just 18. He turned 18 in November, although he plays much more mature, much tougher than that.”

For the record, Parker turned 18 last Nov. 26, though he had to resort to the Internet himself to finally quell the rumors.

“I was talking to somebody and he asked me how old I was and said there was a rumor going around that I was 20, and then I read it on the Internet,” Parker said. “Finally I made up a name, went on the Internet myself and ended all that talk.”