Maine’s Eastern Maine Class A basketball tournament will enter a new era at a new location this season, as the event moves from Bangor to Augusta and will be held two weeks earlier than in the past – during February vacation week.

Those changes, as well as a shift of the Western B tournament from Augusta to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, were approved in November 2004 by the full membership of the Maine Principals’ Association.

Under the new scheduling format, 2006 Eastern A tourney play at the Augusta Civic Center begins Friday, Feb. 17, with four girls quarterfinals in afternoon and evening doubleheaders.

The boys quarterfinals will be held in four consecutive games the next day beginning at 4 p.m.

Eastern A girls semifinals will be held Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 22, with the boys semifinals to be held that evening.

The regional champions in Eastern A will be crowned Friday, Feb. 24, with the girls final at 4 p.m. and the boys game at 7 p.m.

The Eastern B, C and D tournament to be played in Bangor next February will be unchanged from previous years, according to tournament director Bill Fletcher.

Perhaps the only difference of note, according to the schedule, is that Fletcher will share his duties with Norris Nickerson, the longtime director of the Eastern A tournament when it was held in Bangor.

The 2006 Eastern B, C and D tournament begins a Class B boys quarterfinal doubleheader on Friday afternoon, Feb. 17, followed by a B girls doubleheader that evening.

The Eastern B, C and D tournament concludes with Championship Saturday on Feb. 25.

The Class B state finals will cap off 2006 tournament activity at the Bangor Auditorium on Friday evening, March 3.

Hintz tops Mainers at Foot Locker

Cassie Hintz of Stillwater, a senior at Old Town High School, finished 33rd Saturday in the girls seeded race at the Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Regional Championships held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y.

Hintz, who has been training on her own since last spring, finished the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course in 18 minutes, 58.8 seconds.

The University of Wisconsin-bound distance standout was the top Maine finisher in the race, but was unable to match her 15th-place finish of a year ago.

Nicole Blood of Gansevoort, N.Y., a senior at Saratoga Springs High School who also trains independently, won the Northeast regional for the second straight year, finishing in 17:41.8. Blood was one of 11 New York runners who finished in the top 14 in the race, which included competitors from throughout New England as well as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.

Other Maine schoolgirl finishers were Krystal Douglas of Harpswell (42nd), Abby Iselborn of Portland (59th), Molly Peverada of Hampden (124th), Erica Jesseman of Scarborough (133rd), Abby Pullen of Augusta (135th) and Jennifer Monsulick of Kents Hill (171st).

In the boys seeded race, brothers Ayalew and Sintayehu Taye, formerly of Portland High School and now of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass., earned a 1-2 finish. Ayalew Taye, a junior, finished in 15:20.9, with Sintayehu, a sophomore, next in 15:29.0.

The top Maine finisher was Miles Bartlett, a senior from Casco and Lake Region High School, who was 120th in 16:58.5.

The top 10 finishers in each race qualified for the Foot Locker Cross Country National Finals to be held Saturday, Dec. 10, in San Diego, Calif.

Paul earns Gatorade honor

Ken Paul, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound senior fullback and defensive end from Massabesic High of Waterboro, has been named the 2005 Gatorade Maine High School Football Player of the Year.

Paul set school records by rushing for more than 1,500 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns this fall in leading Massabesic to a 9-2 record and a berth in the Western Maine Class A championship game. Paul also holds the Massabesic career records for touchdowns and rushing yardage.

On defense, Paul led the Mustangs in quarterback sacks as a senior and ranked among the team’s leading tacklers.

“Ken has been a full-time starter since his sophomore year,” said Massabesic coach John Morin. “He has gained a lot of recognition, but has remained extremely humble. Whenever asked, he always credits his teammates for his success.”