BANGOR – Sam Bowers, Eric Day, Matt Murray, Mark Pullen and Chris Rabideau first began playing basketball together seemingly as soon as they could control a dribble.

Youth league teams evolved in travel teams, including one that played at the AAU level.

All along, this group chose not to play on separate all-star teams. Now they are Eastern Maine Class C champions after beating Penquis of Milo 42-37 Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

“The five of us have been together since second grade,” said senior forward Rabideau.” We know we can lean on each other, we know when each other is going to be there. We know where to pass the ball, and we know when we pass it someone is going to be there. It’s a great feeling. I’m just so happy to be a part of this with my best friends.”

That gang of five got an additional member four years ago, when center Tim McCarthy first came to the high school after attending grade school in Harmony.

“He fit right in with us,” Rabideau said. “We look at him as a brother just like we look at each other as brothers.”

In addition to the stability of the senior class, there’s been another sign of stability for this group as it grew together – coach Peter Murray.

“He’s stuck with us through thick and thin – AAU, different teams, all through high school – and we just got him his first Eastern Maine title as head coach,” said Rabideau. “That means a lot to all of us.”

Allen eager to get back

Calais guard Ashley Allen was stuck on the Blue Devils’ bench for the Eastern Maine Class C tournament run, which ended Saturday night with a 60-40 loss to Dexter, and it wasn’t easy to just sit and watch.

But after breaking her leg during the 2003 soccer season, the sophomore is even more eager to make a full recovery from her latest injury.

Allen broke her neck in a sliding accident in Princeton Feb. 11, underwent surgery the next day, and will likely be out of action for the next six months, including softball season.

Allen is keeping the scorebook for now, but she’s disappointed she can’t play.

“I wish I could play but I’m glad to be here with the girls to support them,” Allen said. “Breaking my leg set me back, breaking my neck set me back. It’s gonna be tough.”

Allen had a scary couple of moments after the accident, which happened when she hit a snowbank, went flying three feet in the air, and landed on her neck. The fall crushed the seventh vertebra in her neck. Doctors put in an artificial bone graft and a titanium plate.

Allen was actually paralyzed from the neck down for about five minutes after the accident, but regained feeling quickly.

She does have one reason to be encouraged – her speedy recovery from the soccer injury. Allen was able to return in time for the 2004 basketball tournament.

“I healed quick from that, and hopefully I’ll be back,” she said.

Devils honor Tillman

Wondering why the Calais’ girls warm-up T-shirts all have a “40” on the back?

The Blue Devils are honoring Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals safety who was killed last April while serving as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan. Tillman was jersey No. 40.

Three years ago the Calais girls wore T-shirts that read, “Let’s Roll” on the back. Those shirts were in honor of Todd Beamer, who on Sept. 11, 2001, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 which eventually crashed in Pennsylvania.

“Let’s Roll” is part of what Beamer was heard to have said before he and other passengers took action against the hijackers of the plane, possibly averting another devastating terrorist act on the day other planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington.

Puls pulls his weight

Cameron Puls is perhaps the least known of the starters on the Camden Hills of Rockport boys basketball team, partly because he’s the only non-senior among the bunch.

But the 6-foot-2 junior forward’s two-way performance Saturday was a major reason the Windjammers are heading back to the Class B state championship game after a two-year absence.

While Foxcroft Academy’s defense focused elsewhere, Puls worked the baseline and backboards for 15 points and eight rebounds as Camden Hills defeated the Ponies 76-59 in the EM final.

Puls shot 7 of 12 from the field, and did all of his scoring after the first quarter, when the Windjammers trailed 19-17.

“Offensively I was standing on the baseline behind the defense and was kind of the release point, so if someone got stuck in the corner I could get it down low and get it to [forward] Tim Stammen and do something in the middle with it, or if I was open I could take the shot,” said Puls.

Those shots often came after grabbing rebounds, or thanks to penetration by point guard Jamey Davis or passes from Stammen at the high post.

“They had to come out and guard us because we made some outside shots, and when they did we went by them and Cameron did a great job of catching and finishing,” said Davis. “I always tell Cameron that I’m not always going to be looking at him when I pass him the ball, so get your hands ready.”

Puls also drew the defensive assignment against 6-4 Foxcroft center Kyle Rideout, who had averaged 27 points in the Ponies’ two tournament wins.

“Rideout’s a very strong kid, and he’s got a good vertical as well,” said Puls. “Any time someone came into the lane I would take a side step toward him and then always go back to Rideout. I never left him unless I had to rotate off someone. Every time the ball goes up, he goes after it, so I was trying to watch him the whole time.”

Rideout finished with a team-high 20 points and 14 rebounds, but much of that came later in the game after the Windjammers had built a double-digit lead.

“Cameron Puls is lucky to be 6-2, if he’s 6-2 it’s a stretch,” said Camden Hills coach Jeff Hart, “but what a job he did on Rideout. Rideout got some stuff, but he had to work his butt off for it.”

Ponies successful, but unfulfilled

Saturday’s loss in the Eastern Maine Class B boys basketball final was a disappointing one for a senior-laden Foxcroft Academy team.

The Ponies will graduate all five starters and six of their top seven players from this year’s squad, which was seeking the school’s first state championship since 1975.

Still, Foxcroft’s 18-3 season was an improvement from the previous two years, when the Ponies fell in the regional semifinals.

But that was small consolation immediately after the game.

“I’m very happy with the season other than we really wanted to go further,” said Foxcroft coach David Carey. “I’ve got some kids that love the game. Matt [Carey] and Kyle [Rideout] absolutely love the game and put a lot of time into the game, and they really aren’t ready to end their high school careers yet.”