Editor’s Note: With the Eastern Maine Class A tournament moving to the Augusta Civic Center next season, the BDN looks back on some of the top Eastern Maine high school basketball teams and players to play at the Bangor Auditorium.

Part IV, Boys Players

Some did it with skill, others with size, and some with speed. Still others got it done with guile and cunning.

Those were the great ones, the ones who earned notoriety in the form of individual as well as team honors and awards.

Then there are the elite players. The ones who did it with all of the above, flirted with “legendary” status, and whose names are uttered with obvious reverence and usually quiet any argument over the game’s greatest players among Eastern Maine high school basketball fans.

During its 50-year-run as the host site for the Eastern Maine Class A basketball tournament, the Bangor Auditorium has served as the proving ground for players – good, great, and elite alike – and the birthplace of “big school” roundball legends in the East. These are some of those legends:

Joe Campbell

The player best remembered for what many consider the most dramatic play in tournament history would still have warranted inclusion in this club without it. All Bangor’s lanky big man did in nine tournament games over three years (1999-2001) was lead the Rams to back-to-back regional and state titles while averaging 13.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game.

“Not only is he a great one from a player standpoint, but also as a guy with great character,” said Lawrence of Fairfield coach Mike McGee, himself a star player. “It’s funny. I remember when we beat his team in 1999, after seeing him play Jed Johnson, I told my assistants to enjoy this one because it’s a changing of the guard. It’s Bangor’s turn now and they went on to win a bundle.”

Campbell’s uncanny court sense was personified by his rebound of a last-second shot and put-back hoop at the buzzer to beat heavily favored Deering of Portland in 2001.

Thomas “Skip” Chappelle

The senior power forward helped lead Old Town’s state championship dynamo all the way to the New England Basketball Tournament at the Boston Garden in 1957. Chappelle possessed a rare ability to play physically on the defensive end and use great offensive finesse at the other end of the court. He was also a fierce rebounder who was adept at using the glass on the offensive end. Chappelle scored a then-New England-record 38 points in Old Town’s first-round loss.

Chappelle earned All-America honors as a collegiate player at the University of Maine and was invited to try out for the Boston Celtics before moving on to long, successful coaching career in the high school ranks and at UMaine.

Braden Clement

The quiet, unassuming guy from Skowhegan commanded very little attention away from the basketball court, but he generated a lot while on it. To ignore the quick, cool, sharp-shooting assassin was to kill your own team. The two-time all-tournament and all-state player almost single-handedly led the Indians to the 1998 state title game and an upset of heavily favored Cheverus as a junior. Despite being the tourney’s most marked man as a senior, the 6-foot guard still scored 43 points while averaging 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two games.

“Clement was a very, very good player,” Bangor coach Roger Reed said of the Indians’ catalyst. “He made a lot of big baskets for them when they needed them. He was clutch.”

Steve Condon

In the early 1970s, there weren’t many 6-3 guards. When those guards also had great shooting range and touch with an ability to play inside, they made life very tough on foes.

That’s exactly what Presque Isle’s two-time all-tourney and All-Maine first-teamer did in 1970 and 1971. Condon led the Wildcats to the 1971 Eastern crown as a senior.

“He could really shoot and handle the ball pretty well, too,” said Chappelle. “He could have been a prolific scorer with the 3-point shot.”

“He was as smooth as anyone,” said former Caribou standout and longtime official Mike Thurston. “He looked like he had one speed, but he was very deceptively quick and could fake you out.”

Danny Coombs

The smooth-shooting lefthander was Brewer’s Mr. Clutch and led the Witches to a regional title in 1960. The tough, athletic forward, who played from 1957-60, was a difficult defensive draw as he had speed, range, and the ability to score inside and outside. A big guy with a pretty jumper, Coombs still holds Class A records for most field goals (41) and points (104) in the tourney. The all-around athlete was also a standout baseball player who attended Seton Hall University before signing to play pro baseball with the Houston Colt 45’s.

“He could rebound, penetrate, shoot, and he was big at 6-3, but also agile,” Chappelle said. “He was unique. He pretty much did it all and he kind of had to because there weren’t a lot of guys around him.”

Danny Drinon

The hard-nosed guard and two-time all-tourney selection helped lead the Bangor Rams to back-to-back Class A regional titles in 1955 and 1956. A member of the inaugural BDN All-Maine team (1956), Drinon was a complete player. His offensive prowess alone made him a worthy candidate for the best-of-the-best list, but his defensive ability to stop the opponents’ best players put him at an elite level. His quickness was a particular plus as he thrived on the fast break and blanketed opponents.

“He was a 5-10 guard and he was just a combination point guard and two guard who could shoot, penetrate, and pass,” said Chappelle.

Peter Kelley

The 6-4 center was one of the first truly dominating big men in Aroostook County. The Caribou Vikings star from 1956-58 led his team to the state final as a junior before moving to New Hampshire. Kelley, who was a star at Harvard University for three seasons, exhibited unusual quickness and agility for a post player and could score off the fast break. The exceptional rebounder with a nose for the ball was also a scorer (54 points in one game) and team leader.

“He was one of the first guys who could dunk. Our coach specifically told us not to watch him warm up,” Chappelle said with a laugh. “His physique was awesome.”

“He was one of the first real big men in the state of Maine,” said Thurston. “He could shoot from 25 feet away.”

Jon MacDonald

Rarely does talk about Stearns basketball arise where MacDonald’s name goes unmentioned. The two-time All-Maine and all-tournament player helped lead the Minutemen to EM and New England championships in 1963 as a sophomore. A pure, smooth shooter, he rarely took bad shots and was deadly accurate out to 20 feet. He averaged more than 20 points per game in his career before playing a key role for the University of Maryland as a sixth man. He also tried out for the Celtics before entering government service.

MacDonald was a key member of one of the state’s most successful teams as his Minutemen won three regional titles, two state crowns, and the New England championship while going 68-2.

Mike McGee

The man who has become the living embodiment of Lawrence basketball – and that’s saying a lot considering the kind of players the Fairfield school has produced over the years – would be tough to leave out of this collection.

“If he didn’t talk about himself, somebody ought to talk about Michael McGee,” said Thurston. “[Old Town] went to the Eastern Maine finals in 1976 and played Lawrence… and he was just tremendous. He could play wherever he wanted, whatever position he wanted.”

McGee, an all-tourney and All-Maine first-teamer as a senior in 1976, was part of two regional titlists as a player and five more as coach of the Bulldogs. He has also coached his alma mater to two state championships in 20 seasons.

Ralph Mims

One of only two players to be selected to the Class A all-tourney team three times and a two-time MVP, Mims led his teams to two Eastern Maine and one state title in three seasons, and he did it as an unstoppable scorer as well as a versatile, supporting player.

“Ralph Mims is the best player I’ve seen…. Hands down, in my 23 years,” McGee said flatly. “I thought early on he struggled with his attitude and making other people better, but he did that as he got older. His senior year, he had an average team around him, but he made those guys better.”

The 6-3 swingman averaged 24.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 steals a game in nine tourney games (2002-04) and just finished his freshman season at Florida State University.

Josh Nash

Not much was heard in the Class A ranks from a smallish school in Waldoboro before the 6-4 swingman with size, scoring ability, and speed burst on the scene as a sophomore in 1993.

That year, he was an All-Maine second-team pick. The next year, almost every hoops fan knew about Medomak Valley as the two-time All-Maine first-teamer and all-tourney selection led the Panthers to the East championship game during his junior and senior seasons, but they fell just short against annual contenders and eventual state champs Lawrence and Bangor.

Nash averaged 24 points and 10.7 rebounds in three games as a senior and a whopping 29 points and eight rebounds as a junior. He also scored 20 as a sophomore in a quarterfinal loss.

Steve Pound

This is another revered name invariably uttered whenever the hallowed history of Stearns basketball comes up. The high-scoring guard for the Minutemen from 1965-68 was usually the guy on the finishing end of the break. He could score on the run, on the fly, or from just about anywhere on abrupt, pull-up jump shots.

Pound’s four-year run at Stearns started with a state title and ended with another. He stood only 5-9, but he didn’t let that stop him from piling up points. He continued that trend in college as a 2,000-point scorer at Acadia University.

“When you talk about Stearns, you’ve got to mention Steve Pound’s name,” Thurston said. “He scored 68 points against us [Caribou]. I had to guard him in the third quarter and used up four fouls trying to stick with him.”

Mark Reed

Perhaps one of the headiest players ever to run the Auditorium floor, he was the poster boy for intangibles, while also having plenty of size and skill.

“Mark was about as heady a player as there’s been around,” said Thurston, who officiated several of Reed’s games. “It was a treat for me to see him maneuver and direct traffic. Nicest gentleman as a player I’ve ever worked around.”

The 6-3 Reed was a two-time All-Maine pick and a three-time all-tourney pick en route to leading Bangor to back-to-back EM titles (1992-93) and a state crown in 1993. He led emotionally and by example while averaging 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game in eight games while alternately playing the point, off-guard, and both forward positions as needed.

Dave Rollins

Rollins was a mountain that moved, quickly. He could jump, run, and shoot. In short, the 6-4 scorer with guard skills could take over a game completely.

The two-time all-tourney and All-Maine selection (1972-73) led the Cony Rams to back-to-back regional crowns and a state championship his senior year (1973). He was not only talented, he was versatile as he had the size, dexterity, and quickness to play guard as well as all three frontcourt positions, making him a tough defensive matchup for opponents.

“He was a tough player,” said McGee. “I don’t think anyone really wanted to guard him.”

Gary Towle

He was an awesome scorer from a school that produced a lot of them. The Cony of Augusta guard was a deadly shooter from almost anywhere on the court who led the Rams to the 1978 state title by scoring 36 against defending champ South Portland. The 6-1 swingman, who was known for his evasive ability and quick shooting release, also scored 47 points and 54 (vs. Bangor) in regular-season games.

Towle played for the Rams from 1975-78 before going on to Providence College. He transferred to Assumption College and became the team’s leading scorer.

Monday: Tourney memories