BANGOR – Darrell Haskell and Steve Childs are the best of friends, so when one does something, the other often follows suit.

Take Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B championship game, for example.

When Haskell made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, Childs soon followed with one of his own. And when Childs’ shot fell through the net, Haskell was motivated to score again from long range – and that barrage propelled Erskine Academy of South China to a 61-45 victory over Hermon and its first-ever boys basketball regional title.

“It felt great,” said Haskell, a 6-foot-3 junior guard. “We both were all feeling it, and they kept getting the ball to us and we kept shooting.”

Third-ranked Erskine (18-3) will face Western B champion Gorham for the state championship here Friday night. Fifth-seeded Hermon finished 14-7.

Erskine made 11 of 25 3-point attempts to match an Eastern B tournament single-game record set by Stearns of Millinocket in 1997 and equaled a year later by Mount Desert Island.

But it wasn’t until Haskell and Childs combined for the Eagles’ last three long-

distance dial-ups that they were able to fight off Hermon and claim their first EM title after losing to Hermon in the 2000 final and to Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference rival Winslow last year.

“Definitely, the motivation was there from not winning last year, and from my brother’s [Jesse’s] team losing to Hermon in 2000,” said Haskell. “We didn’t want to lose again this year.”

Erskine took a 42-37 lead into the fourth quarter, but the 3-pointers keyed an 11-0 run over the next four minutes. By the time Haskell hit his second 3 of the run, the Eagles were in command at 53-37.

“Our game plan was that we couldn’t play with them inside, so if they were going to beat us, it would have to be outside,” said Hermon coach Alan Tweedie, whose Hawks were outrebounded 32-18 by the taller Eagles. “It went according to the game plan, and they hit the 3’s, so we tip our cap to them and they go on.”

Erskine also benefited from timely inside play from 6-foot-4 junior James Leibowitz, who scored eight second-half points on 4-of-5 shooting while starting forward Josh Jones was sidelined by foul trouble. Leibowitz had three baskets in the fourth quarter as the Eagles’ run eventually grew to 19-2 for a 61-39 cushion with less than two minutes remaining.

“[Leibowitz] didn’t play much during the regular season, but he’s 6-4, long and lanky, and I thought he’d be a matchup problem for them,” said Erskine coach Tim Bonsant.

Haskell finished with 16 points for the Eagles, while senior guard Matt Donar added 15 points and six assists, and Childs contributed nine points and eight rebounds.

Senior forward Adam Duplisea paced Hermon with 15 points.

Duplisea and senior guard Jesse Keith each had seven points during the first half as the Hawks hung within 30-25 despite making only 2 of 9 free-throw attempts. Hermon compensated by shooting 50 percent (11 of 22) from the field.

“We held them way outside, but in the first half they were sinking them,” said Haskell. “In the second half we didn’t allow many easy shots.”

EAGLES 61, HAWKS 45

Hermon (14-7) Erskine Academy (18-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Tarr 0 1 0 0 0 Peterson 0 0 0

Cayford 1 5 1 4 3 Dow 0 0 0

Adams 2 2 0 0 4 Childs 3 13 9

Keith 4 11 1 4 9 Lyford 0 0 0

McGown 0 0 0 2 0 Bagdoyon 0 0

Duplisea 6 16 1 2 15 D. Haskell 6 14 0 2 16

Shorey 3 7 0 0 6 Heath 0 0 0

Gould 2 6 0 1 5 Jones 4 6 8

Kane 1 1 0 0 3 Dennison 0 0 0

Deabay 0 0 0 0 0 Leibowitz 4 8

Danforth 0 1 0 0 0 K. Haskell 1 2

Harding 0 0 0 0 0 Donar 5 6 15

Fleming 1 2 0 3

Totals 19 50 3 13 45 24 47 61

Hermon 11 25 37 45

Erskine Academy 13 30 42 61

3-pt. goals ? Hermon (4-18): Duplisea 2-8, Kane 1-1, Gould 1-4, Shorey 0-2, Cayford 0-3; Erskine Academy (11-25): D. Haskell 4-8, Donar 3-4, Childs 3-11, Fleming 1-2