George Stevens boys basketball team shares spirit of giving

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The spirit of self-sufficiency has led to the spirit of giving around the holiday season for the George Stevens Academy boys basketball program.

The Eagles, represented by captains Ebb Walton and Josh Astbury and coach Dwayne Carter, recently presented a check for $500 to the Christmas Angels Fund of the Blue Hill Congregational Church.

The donation, raised through the team’s annual fundraising efforts, was to be used to provide Christmas gifts for area children in need.

“This year things have been a little tough with the cost of oil and gas, and I know they were extremely pleased with the money we were able to give them and the kids in the basketball program feel good about doing it.”

The GSA boys basketball program has raised funds in each of the five years Carter has served as the varsity coach through such activities as bottle drives and free-throw shooting pledge contests.

The initial goal was to support the basketball program, with money raised used for such needs as purchasing video equipment, providing transportation costs for summer games, and funding various team activities.

But the success of the fundraising has enabled the program to contribute to community causes.

Last year the team donated money to send two local junior high school pupils to DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) camp through the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.

The Eagles also have made a donation to help a local man in need of a liver transplant.

“The community supports us a lot, and we thought it would be a good community service if we could give something back,” said Carter.

“Now it’s become a tradition, and the players really look forward to doing it.”

Rams roll with the flow

Forgive the Bangor High boys basketball team if it feels as though it has a bit of a New England Patriots aura about it.

The Rams are off to a 5-0 start this winter, with an average victory margin of 20 points.

But when you’re the defending Class A state champions and favored to compete for that title again this season, it’s not only a great start, it’s expected.

“I think we’re doing well,” said senior forward Billy Zolper, whose 13 points and 14 rebounds helped Bangor to its most recent win, an 85-62 victory over Lewiston. “We’re 5-0 and everyone expected us to be 5-0. Everybody expects us to go undefeated so we really don’t concentrate on that, we concentrate on one game at a time.”

Bangor coach Roger Reed has used a variety of lineups during the pre-Christmas schedule, with only senior center Ryan Weston and senior guards Jon McAllian and Lee Suvlu starting every game.

The different starting lineups and the chance go deep into the bench after building early leads have produced a balanced statistical result.

McAllian is the only Bangor player to score in double figures in each game, and he is averaging a team-best 11.6 points per game. Suvlu (9.8 ppg), Zolper (9.4 ppg) and Weston (8.6 ppg) are other scoring leaders, but the Rams’ depth is reflected in the fact eight different players have scored at least eight points in a game already this season.

Weston, a third-team BDN All-Maine pick last winter, had his best offensive night so far this season last Friday, shooting 8-for-12 from the field en route to a game-high 18 points against Lewiston.

“I think this was the first game where I felt comfortable and ready to play basketball again,” said Weston. “The guards were giving me great looks and great feeds inside, and I was fortunate enough to be able to just get around and finish.”

Bangor’s man-to-man defense has allowed just 42.6 points per game, a number skewed a bit by its game against Lewiston, when the Blue Devils went against the norm against the Rams and used an up-tempo offensive approach.

“We’re liking the way things are going right now,” said Weston after that game, the Rams’ 15th consecutive win since losing Jan. 20 at Mt. Blue of Farmington. “But I think we want to be a little stronger on defense. We can always improve on defense.”

Bangor returns to regular-season play Friday night at Edward Little of Auburn. The Red Eddies edged the Rams in last winter’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game, a non-countable contest that had no carryover to tournament play. Bangor went on to win it all while top-ranked EL was bounced by Hampden Academy in the regional quarterfinals.

Edward Little is 3-2 this season after a 63-50 win over Brewer last Saturday, and will attempt to challenge Bangor with a talented corps of guards, since its top player from a year ago, center Troy Barnies, is now at the University of Maine.

That game will be followed Jan. 2 by a rematch of last year’s Eastern Maine final when 4-1 Messalonskee of Oakland visits Red Barry Gymnasium.

“I think we haven’t even reached our potential yet,” said McAllian. “We’re getting things done, but we’ve still got work to do.”

No hibernation for Bears

The Easton boys basketball team last appeared at the Bangor Auditorium in 2000, when the Bears reached the Eastern Maine Class D final before falling to Katahdin of Stacyville.

But with a strong returning cast and an early dose of confidence thanks to a 4-0 pre-Christmas record, this may be the year the team returns to the grand postseason stage that is home to the Eastern Maine B, C and D tournament each February.

“It’s definitely our goal this year,” said second-year Bears’ head coach Travis Carter. “Last year our goal was to make a prelim and have a winning season, and we accomplished both. With bringing all the same guys back, we want a home-game prelim this year and to show these guys what the Bangor [Auditorium] floor is like.”

Easton starts three seniors and two juniors, all starters a year ago when the Bears finished the regular season with an 11-7 record before bowing to Calvary Chapel of Orrington in a preliminary-round contest.

Senior forward Jeremy Brock has been the primary offensive catalyst this season, averaging 22.0 points per game in wins over Fort Fairfield, Greater Houlton Christian Academy, East Grand of Danforth and Washburn.

“Jeremy’s very quick for a big man,” said Carter. “Guys really have a hard time guarding him on the block.”

Guards Brad Trask (17.0 ppg) and Sam Bacon (10.8 ppg) and forwards Nate Sanders (12.6 ppg) and Nick Flewelling (8.3 ppg) add to a balanced starting lineup.

“They’ve played together since the fifth grade under the same coaching, mostly,” said Carter, who also coached most of his current roster at the middle-school level. “Probably the biggest thing is that they work together. We know which guys are going to score, but on any given night we’ve got five guys who can put up 20, and that makes it very difficult for other teams to attempt to guard us because if they shut down one there’s somebody else that will step up.

“They’re not point-oriented, though, we just want to have the most points at the end of the night.”

The Bears also hope to get a boost before the end of the season from junior forward Sean Daniels, last year’s sixth man who currently is playing on the junior varsity after losing part of his left arm during a potato-harvesting accident last fall.

Easton next plays Thursday against Greater Houlton Christian Academy at the University of Maine-Presque Isle.

The Bears then face their most challenging stretch of the season to date, at Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook on Saturday before hosting local rival Central Aroostook of Mars Hill on New Year’s Eve.

“These kids want to go to Bangor,” said Carter. “It’s been a long time, and I think that’s our biggest goal, to get down there and at least get a game on that floor.

“I really believe we’ve got a chance.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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