GLENBURN – The Glenburn boys seventh- and eighth-grade travel basketball team won the “A” Division Championship in the Eastern Maine League in stunning fashion Jan. 26-27 during the season-ending tournament held at Hampden Academy. The boys won their three games by a total of five points.

All of the players attend Glenburn Middle School and have come up through the Glenburn Recreation Department programs. This particular group boasts being together on one team or another since they were in kindergarten.

Seeded third, behind powerhouses Ellsworth and Bangor, Glenburn won the quarterfinal round game against Hermon on Friday night by a score of 59-57. The game was decided by Brandon Thayer when he aced a basket with two seconds remaining.

The dominating play of Glenburn’s Zach Blodgett, coupled with the balanced attack of his teammates, overcame a fantastic shooting performance by Hermon. In particular, Hermon’s Cody Veilleux was unstoppable from the field and finished with 28 points.

In Saturday’s semi-final game against Bangor, Glenburn was able to build a 14-point lead by the end of the third quarter, and then hung on to win 48-46 as Bangor surged with a furious comeback.

Blodgett again dominated the attack with powerful inside play on both ends of the court. Lucas Philippon’s hot shooting and Nick Sherwood’s scoring and floor leadership helped build the lead.

Aggressive defense and rebounding by Justin Merritt and Grady Hayes and timely foul shots by Zack Thompson all contributed to Glenburn’s performance.

Glenburn again built a large lead against No. 1-seeded Ellsworth in the championship game. This time the boys overcame very effective full-court pressure by Ellsworth and pulled out a 57-56 win.

Excellent overall play by Zach Campbell and Tyler Omlor were key as Glenburn had players hampered by foul trouble. Thomas Leen’s 3-pointer in the fourth quarter extended Glenburn’s lead to 14 points.

Late in the game Zach Campbell, Justin Merritt and Grady Hayes were instrumental under the basket as Zach Blodgett fouled out with almost four minutes remaining after another brilliant performance.

Glenburn finished the season with a 10-3 record and beat all of the teams in the league at least twice.