The four remaining unbeaten teams in Maine schoolboy basketball lead the field as the Eastern Maine tournament begins today at the Bangor Auditorium and Augusta Civic Center.

Class B quarterfinals start this afternoon in Bangor, while Class D games commence Saturday evening and Class C play begins Tuesday morning – all leading to the regional finals in each class on Feb. 23.

Meanwhile, the Bangor and Hampden boys teams will head to Augusta for quarterfinals Saturday against opponents to be determined through preliminary-round games held Thursday night. Class A semifinals are next Feb. 20, with the EM final Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

Class A Bangor, Class B Maranacook of Readfield and Class D Central Aroostook of Mars Hill all take 18-0 records into postseason play, while Class C Calais is 16-0.

And while Calais boasts the fewest wins among those unbeatens this winter, coach Ed Leeman’s Blue Devils have the state’s longest current winning streak overall – with the two-time defending state champions 60-0 since a loss to Penquis of Milo on Feb. 22, 2005, in the regional quarterfinals.

The other three unbeatens also boast a championship pedigree. Bangor is the defending Class A state champion, and has won seven gold balls in the last 15 years. Maranacook has the same nucleus – guards Ryan Martin, Mike Poulin and Will Bardaglio – that secured the school’s first Class B state crown in 2006.

And coach Tim Brewer’s Central Aroostook squad, led by 1,000-point scorer Cameron York, is recently removed from back-to-back Class D state championships in 2005 and 2006.

Bangor takes a 28-game winning streak into its quarterfinal against No. 8 Brunswick, and longtime coach Roger Reed credits the team’s success to a number of factors, among them team chemistry and several key statistical categories.

Bangor is averaging just 12 turnovers per contest while grabbing 39 rebounds a game and holding opponents to about 40 points per game.

“We’re always striving to be a better defensive team,” said Reed, whose team defeated Skowhegan twice this season but has not faced Brunswick.

Class B teams face squeeze play

With Wednesday’s inclement weather pushing preliminary-round games back a day, it truly is crunch time in Class B.

The Eastern B boys quarterfinals kick off tournament action Friday at the Bangor Auditorium with an afternoon doubleheader involving three teams that had to play preliminary-round games less than 24 hours earlier.

Only No. 10 Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, which traveled to No. 7 Mount Desert Island and defeated the seventh-ranked Trojans 55-49 in a prelim that was moved up to Tuesday night, will have the advantage of significant rest before its Friday afternoon quarterfinal.

Medomak Valley (11-8) will play No. 2 Presque Isle at 4:35 p.m. Friday, just after a 3:05 p.m. contest between No. 3 Camden Hills and No. 10 John Bapst of Bangor. On Thursday night, Presque Isle defeated No. 15 Mount View of Thorndike 65-53 and John Bapst knocked off No. 6 Old Town 56-44.

Two other Class B boys quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday morning .

Bangor, Calais pointworthy

Bangor and Calais racked up two of the more impressive Heal point totals in recent history while earning the No. 1 seeds in their divisions.

Bangor amassed 198.642 Heal points, the sixth most for any Class A boys team since 1961 and the most in school history since reclassification that year.

The Rams’ total trailed only Rumford in 1976 (211.72), Cheverus of Portland in 1981 (207.81), Waterville in 1985 (204.64), Rumford in 1977 (200.62) and Deering of Portland in 2001 (198.76).

All those teams went on to win state championships except the 2001 Deering squad, which lost to Bangor in the state final on Joe Campbell’s buzzer-beating basket. Incidentally, the Bangor team that defeated Deering that night had the third best Heal point total in school history (195.52).

The 1975 Bangor team held the previous school best for Heal points with 195.68, but the top-ranked Rams fell to No. 5 Cony of Augusta in that year’s regional semifinals.

This year’s Calais team compiled the second most Heal points in Class C since 1961 with 154.2568.

That trailed only the 1978 team from Katahdin of Stacyville, which went 17-1 and amassed 155.49 Heal points. Katahdin went on to win the Eastern Maine title but lost to Jay in the state championship game.

Calais’s Heal points this season were well ahead of the Blue Devils’ 2007 total of 132.81 and 2006 total of 120.00. The Blue Devils finished 18-0 and went on to win state titles both years.

Gorham’s Jenkins gets done

A noteworthy event took place in the Western Maine Class A preliminary round Tuesday night with No. 9 Windham’s 42-41 victory over No. 8 Gorham.

The loss marked the final game of Kevin Jenkins’ 24-year coaching career at Gorham, during which he guided the Rams through their ascension from their perch as a perennial Class B power to the Class A ranks.

Gorham qualified for postseason play during each of Jenkins’ seasons on the bench, including this winter when the Rams rebounded from a 3-8 start to win their last seven regular-season games before losing to Windham to end the season with a 10-9 record.

Gorham won Class B state titles in 1996 and 2000 under Jenkins and also won Western Maine championships in 1986, 1987, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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