BANGOR – Officials have cracked down on the “blood rule” in high school basketball for the past decade, but the strict attention to the rule combined with the newly finished Bangor Auditorium floor kept the tournament’s trainer, Phil Mateja, busier than normal during the past week of games.

“I’ve been through twice as much tape this year, just taping up knees,” Mateja said.

The culprits of the numerous knee-scraping injuries are the pen-cap sized holes in the floor that are sharp around the edges, especially as many athletes go sliding across the shiny surface.

“In the past the large holes with the bolts were big problems, but those were worked on and fixed,” the trainer said.

“In my four or five years working the tournament I would normally have to get up about once during a game. Now I have to get up to tape up a knee or something four to five times a game,” Mateja said.

Mateja said he has informed the appropriate people to suggest fixing the problem for next year, but in the Eastern Maine Class D final game between the Deer Isle-Stonington boys and Central Aroostook, at least three players were patched up for scrapes and blood.