One thing on Rams’ minds: Gold ball Portland the only thing in Bangor’s way

BANGOR – When Bangor finished off Messalonskee of Oakland to win the Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball championship last weekend, the aftermath was more matter-of-fact than celebratory.

“We were excited, but we didn’t want to blow it out like we’ve won the whole thing because we’ve got one more game to go,” said senior forward Alex Gallant, the tournament’s MVP, after the game. “It’s great to win this, but we want to keep it low and understand we’ve got to work hard for one more week so hopefully we can win next Saturday.”

For while the Eastern Maine championship is nice, it’s the gold ball that’s been the Rams’ ultimate object of attention since preseason practices began last November.

“I thought when the season started that we probably were deeper than most teams and had a good chance to make the tournament and get through it if we played well, understanding that the best team doesn’t always get through the tournament,” said Bangor coach Roger Reed.

“That’s the thing I’ve always tried to make known to the kids, that if we worked hard and continued to improve we were capable of being in the tournament and winning it.”

Bangor will enter Saturday night’s state final against Western Maine champion Portland at the Augusta Civic Center with a 20-1 record.

Save for a split of two games against Mt. Blue of Farmington and a three-point win late in the season at Hampden Academy, regular-season challenges were few for the Rams, although Bangor entered postseason play off a 47-41 loss to Edward Little of Auburn in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game.

“At first when we were crushing teams it was a little too easy, but two-thirds of the way through the season it was different,” said senior guard Troy Jellison. “First there was the Mt. Blue game that we barely won, I think it made us realize that there were going to be some tough teams once we got in the tournament, and obviously the Edward Little loss brought us down a little bit.”

Things were even more uncertain for the preseason favorites in Eastern A midway through their tournament opener, when the second-seeded Rams trailed No. 10 Leavitt of Turner Center by two points at halftime of their quarterfinal.

But from that point, Bangor began emphasizing its inside strength even more than it had before, and the results have been fruitful.

The Rams dominated the second half in beating Leavitt 67-49, then rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit to edge Mt. Blue 57-55 in the semifinals.

A similar second-half surge played itself out in the championship game, as Bangor broke free from a 31-31 third-quarter tie with Messalonskee by outscoring the Eagles 22-5 the rest of the way to earn a 53-36 victory and its first regional crown since 2003.

“We played from behind in numerous cases, but we never did quit and we called on some resiliency when we needed it,” said Reed, who will be seeking his seventh state title in 22 years as Bangor’s coach. “I thought the team came together and gave us what we needed to get through it.”

Bangor’s postseason run has featured Gallant, who averaged 23.7 points and eight rebounds in three tournament games, and 6-5 junior center Ryan Weston, who has stepped up to provide a strong low-post complement.

Junior forward Adam Bernstein, a reserve during the regular season, has played a prime-time defensive role and hit some timely long-range shots during tournament play, while Jellison and Lee Suvlu have played solidly as the team’s primary ballhandlers and perimeter defenders.

“More and more we’ve come to understand that we’ve got two really good people inside people, and we’ve learned to move the ball more effectively and look at them more than once,” said Reed. “We worked on that all season, but there were a lot of games where we didn’t have to emphasize it quite as much.

“But it’s always been our intention to do that because we like to go inside-out, and the truth is we weren’t going to be a good team until we understood that.”

This will mark the first time Bangor and Portland have met in a basketball state final since 1936, when Portland earned the gold ball with a 30-15 victory.

But these schools have battled elsewhere recently – on the baseball diamond last June. In that game Gallant hit a game-tying home run in the sixth inning and an RBI single to plate the winning run in the seventh as Bangor edged the Bulldogs 4-3 in the 2006 Class A state final.

“Portland’s always one of our biggest rivals,” said senior forward Gordon Webb, the starting catcher on the Bangor baseball team.

But whether the opponent is Portland or another team, the goal Saturday night for Bangor is the same as it’s been throughout the season.

“We want to win the last game, that’s the pressure we feel,” said Gallant. “We don’t want to go out with a loss.”