They stay all day, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. – some mornings earlier, some evenings later. They pay attention to every little detail. Their decisions are scrutinized.

The men and women who sit at the Bangor Auditorium scorer’s table and the members of the Maine Principals’ Association basketball committee have tough jobs.

But they’re sweet jobs, too. Those who work the tournament are taken care of. There’s never a shortage of baked goods or other munchies at both the officials’ table and the MPA committee table across the court.

“We eat hard,” joked Pam Bush, who helps keep the score book and works as a spotter for the other scorers.

Everyone pitches in.

Deborah Spencer, the wife of Central of Corinth principal and MPA committee member Garry Spencer, makes a different treat for each of the six-game tourney days.

“This was the order,” Garry Spencer said earlier this week. “Saturday was pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Monday was scotcheroos. Tuesday was whoopie pies. [Wednesday] was two kinds of fudge, peanut butter and chocolate.”

The crew doesn’t go without on the four-game days when Deborah Spencer doesn’t make treats. There are still plenty of snacks.

Bush, the daughter of legendary MDI coach Bernard “Bunny” Parady, brought cowboy cookies earlier in the week and chocolate chip cookies Friday.

Hal Stewart, the former principal of Caravel Middle School in Carmel, runs the scoreboard and has worked at the tournament for 30 years. On Thursday he brought trail mix that he made with his wife, Marilyn. His mother, Elva Stewart of Hermon, also makes cookies.

Garry Spencer’s former secretary, Sharleen Chesley, brought in molasses cookies.

The scorer’s table also had whoopie pies Wednesday, courtesy of Don Erb’s wife Kristi. Don Erb, a Bangor High boys soccer assistant coach and former Hermon High girls basketball coach, keeps the score book for some games.

There’s more.

Willie Gavett, a former Orono boys basketball coach, put together a big spread Tuesday, as he does every year. Bush said Gavett uses the Bangor Auditorium kitchen to cook lasagna, soup, salad, biscuits, and brownies for the crew’s lunch break.

The tournament crew that works the lobby level of the Auditorium also has plenty of treats in a small office off to the side. Rumor had it Friday there were pastries on hand from Frank’s Bakery in Bangor.

“We spend a lot of hours together,” Garry Spencer said. “The game is the quickest part. It’s the in-between times [that are long]. We try to make it as much like home as we can.”

The sideline crew has one more day of Deborah Spencer’s treats when the Auditorium hosts six Eastern Maine finals today. Word is, whatever she makes will be yummy.

Calais girls head home to rest

Here’s a Calais girls basketball statistic few might know.

The Blue Devils are 0-7 in Eastern Maine Class C tourney games before which the team has stayed overnight in Bangor following a game.

“Last year they all wanted to stay up and watch the boys play and we lost by one to Houlton [in the quarterfinals] the next day,” coach Bob McShane said. “If we would have been all in their beds and in a regular routine, I don’t know.”

Eighth-seeded Calais wrapped up a berth in the EM final with a 58-54 win over No. 5 Penobscot Valley of Howland Friday afternoon at about 5:15 p.m. The Blue Devils had almost 26 hours to rest before they face No. 2 Dexter today for the EM title.

The top-ranked, undefeated Calais boys were to play their semifinal Friday at 8:35 p.m. McShane said he wasn’t forcing anyone to go home and thought several of his girls would stay in Bangor to watch the boys play No. 4 Houlton.

McShane would rather they all go home.

“If we stay here, we watch the boys game, go to bed at 11, 12 at night,” he said. “But it’s not that night. It’s the next day. You go to breakfast, sit in the bleachers, hang out, go to lunch, hang out, sit in the bleachers, go to the mall for a while. By the time the game rolls around, you’re tired and you don’t have your legs.”