Calais poised to defend state title

CALAIS – It’s been good to be a boys basketball player at Calais High School for the last nine months.

Such are the spoils of victory in a small town. Not the physical spoils, mind you, but the community pride borne of a state champion.

Of course, this Down East border town is not unfamiliar with state basketball championships, its girls program having won five gold balls since 1991.

But for the Calais boys program, last winter’s Class C state title was a first, and it has remained a focal point of the city’s attention ever since.

“It’s been unreal. Everyone’s such a huge basketball fan around here, and to never win the states before and to be on the team that finally did was unbelievable,” said Blue Devils forward Chris Taylor. “Even now when I walk into Wal Mart or the grocery store, everyone’s like ‘congratulations and good luck this season.’ It’s been pretty cool.”

Those good tidings likely will remain with the players for as long as they live, but as the 2006-2007 schoolboy basketball season begins around the state Friday night, one task facing championship teams like Calais is not to live in the past, but to build on it.

“The first thing you worry about is how hungry you’re going to be,” said Calais coach Ed Leeman, whose club hosts Lee Academy in its season opener. “This group has to realize that they’re not protecting a gold ball. They’re going for another one, and they’re going for whatever they’re able to achieve, so we’re going to be pushing them as hard as they can to achieve that.

“But they’ve got to realize that they’re not the champs now. You don’t carry a belt into the next year in basketball, so we’re like any other team. We just need to make sure we work hard enough.”

Among the other reigning boys basketball champions from the region, two-time defending Class D state titlist Central Aroostook of Mars Hill hosts Katahdin of Stacyville and Class B state champion Maranacook of Readfield visits Medomak Valley of Waldoboro in Friday night openers.

And two-time Eastern A winner Hampden Academy travels to Farmington on Saturday afternoon for its first game of the season against Mt. Blue.

All four champions, as well as the rivals who would like to replace them come March, start the new season adapting to the annual changes fostered by graduation, the influx of new players and the increased maturity of returning players.

Calais likely is more fortunate than most, having graduated just two players from their primary playing rotation in guard Adam Knowles and forward Mike Guthrie.

The Blue Devils return three senior starters in Taylor, guard Robbie Rogers, and versatile swingman Brandon Tomah, a third-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine choice last season.

That trio has been asked to take a leadership role in focusing the team on the present, and not assuming a repeat of past success.

“When we won last year, it gave us a little more confidence, but our coach always says the man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there,” said Tomah. “That’s a good quote because he strives for us to work hard every day in practice. He said last year’s gold ball is in the past, and we have to start from the beginning this year and work our way up.”

“This year is a new year compared to last year,” added Rogers. “Everything’s different. We need to start over, work hard, and see where we go.”

With sophomore center Cal Shorey and sophomore point guard Jordan Leeman joining the three seniors in the starting lineup, Calais will rely on the same brand of aggressive play that carried it to a 22-0 record last season – an unbeaten run capped by a 56-49 victory over Winthrop in the state final.

“Coach always said that if we were good at team defense, the offense would come,” said Tomah. “He wants the program to be built around solid defense, because even when our shots aren’t falling we can get fast-break points off our defense.”

The Blue Devils’ championship-game victory set off a celebration that continues to some degree nine months later.

But also inherent in that championship status is an additional challenge – the knowledge that the Blue Devils’ will get an opponent’s best effort every night out this season.

“We definitely have that target on our back, but we’re not going out every game thinking we’re going to go 22-0 again,” Taylor said. “If it does happen that would be great, but you don’t want to focus everything on that, you want to focus on the end result.

“It will be different because everyone will be motivated to beat the state champions, but we really don’t look at it that way. It’s a new season. Obviously we can’t forget that we won last year, but this is a new season and we’ve got to approach it that way.”