BANGOR – Nobody who suited up for George Stevens Academy in Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class C boys quarterfinal had played more than one previous tournament game at the Bangor Auditorium.

That didn’t stop the Eagles of Blue Hill from exhibiting tremendous poise and confidence in their 66-38 victory over Central of Corinth.

Coach Dwayne Carter’s ballclub features a nucleus of eight seniors, six of whom played key roles in GSA’s outstanding performance.

“We have a lot of seniors and they’ve been here before,” said GSA coach Dwayne Carter. “They’ve also played a lot of big games in other sports.

“In baseball, they’ve just been dominant that last five or six years. They’ve had a lot of big-game experience, which helps. It carries over.”

This year’s seniors were freshmen in 2003 when George Stevens made a run to the Class C state championship. They’ve benefited from playing together for so long and have developed good chemistry.

“We have six guys that play a lot and they’re all unselfish,” said senior Collin Henry. “It doesn’t matter who scores the points for us.”

The Eagles experienced a few struggles (8-11) during 2004, when they reached the preliminary round, but built a foundation on playing good defense.

“Three years ago, four of these [senior] kids started,” Carter said of Henry, Caleb Owen, Phineas Peake, and Chaz Gray. “Back then we needed to play great ‘D,’ so that’s what we focused on.”

GSA continues to take pride in that aspect of its game, as evidenced by Tuesday’s effort.

“That’s our core, our defense, and when we play good ‘D,’ our offense comes around,” Carter said.