Friday night’s Class B boys basketball state final game pits first-time Eastern Maine titlist Erskine Academy of South China against a Gorham team steeped in postseason tradition.

Western Maine champion Gorham will be making its seventh appearance in a state championship game during Kevin Jenkins’ 20-year coaching tenure, including four times in the last five years.

Gorham is 2-4 in those previous six state finals, with its last victory a 74-52 decision over Hermon in 2000.

Jenkins credits his program’s success in part to stability within the coaching ranks. Top assistant Kelly Littlefield has been with Jenkins for 16 years, while freshman coach Rocky Myers is a 14-year veteran.

“It’s just a situation where kids come up through the program and are well prepared,” said Jenkins. “Obviously there is some talent, but they also come up here with a good understanding of the game, so there’s a mix of talent and smart players.”

This year’s Gorham squad, 19-2, earned overtime victories over Mountain Valley of Rumford in the Western B semifinal and Lake Region of Naples in the regional final to reach the state final.

The Rams trailed late in both games before forcing overtime, then dominated play in the extra sessions.

“The guys really handled the pressure well,” said Jenkins.

Gorham boasts a tall frontcourt in 6-foot-7 senior center Kurt Randall (11 points per game, 11.5 rebounds per game), 6-4 junior forward Ben Thayer (13.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and 6-3 senior forward Justin Brown (14 ppg, nine 3-pointers in the WM tournament).

“They’re pretty big, bigger than any team we’ve faced this year,” said Erskine coach Tim Bonsant. “One of the big things for us against them is we have to rebound defensively and offensively, but especially on defense.”

Gorham’s backcourt is led by 5-6 sophomore Max Bass (4.5 assists per game, 3.5 steals per game), a second-year starter at point guard, along with 6-0 sophomore Matt Trask and 6-0 senior Tim Atwood, who is coming off his second case of pneumonia this season but is expected to be near full strength for the state final.

Josh Tanguay, a 6-2 sophomore, is another key contributor for the Rams.

“It’s a good team in that it defends well, and the players have pretty well-defined roles and stay within them,” Jenkins said. “They all know their strengths and weaknesses, and play to them.

“We’ve been very consistent, that’s been one of the great things about this team.”

Erskine Academy (18-3) is led by senior guard Matt Donar, who averaged 17.3 points en route to being named MVP of the EM tournament, and fellow all-tourney choices Darrell Haskell, a 6-3 junior point guard, and Josh Jones, a 6-4 junior forward.

Other key contributors for Bonsant’s club are 6-3 senior center Kevin Haskell, 5-10 senior guard Steve Childs and 6-4 junior forward James Leibowitz.

“They’re really playing well and they’re playing with confidence,” Jenkins said. “They look like a team with an excellent basketball IQ. They have a real good sense about what each other is doing, and in that sense I think they’re similar to us, we’re both balanced teams.”