Plenty on the line for Helms Saturday Parents split to see son, daughter compete

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BANGOR – Megan Helm had her mind on Erskine of South China’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal matchup against Camden Hills Saturday afternoon, but once the game ended in a 53-49 win for the Eagles, the Erskine sophomore had one other thought.

Helm’s brother Sam, a senior at Gardiner, wrestled in the state final of the Class A championships in the 285-pound weight class Saturday afternoon. He had won the Eastern Maine and Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference titles earlier this season.

The duo’s parents split up Saturday – dad Jon was at the wrestling meet at Cony High in Augusta to watch Sam while mom Anne spent the morning in Augusta, then traveled to Bangor for Megan’s 2:05 p.m. game.

Megan Helm said she’s close to her brother. It’s a good thing, because she is listed in the basketball tournament program as Sam Helm. She was also called Sam in the pre-game introductions.

“It’s OK,” said Megan, who didn’t get into the game. “I just hope I don’t look like a 285-pound wrestler.”

Sam Helm wound up second in his weight class Saturday. He was pinned by Cape Elizabeth’s Nate Lavallee, who won the state title last year.

Sam Helm reached his 100th career win this year, a moment that Megan got to see. She almost had to miss a basketball practice to do so, although because of a forfeit she didn’t have to. That would have been fine with Erskine girls coach Scott Corey, who got a phone call from Sam asking Corey to let his sister out of practice for the day.

“[Corey is] all about family,” Megan Helm said. “It’s really good.”

The Helms, who live in Palermo, are an athletic bunch of siblings. Older brother Zac played baseball, swam and ran cross country at Erskine and is now a baseball player at Colby College in Waterville.

Dunk you very much

Dunks are a rare sight to behold in high school basketball, mostly because there’s a thin line for players between making the basket and getting a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

The dunk that Camden Hills junior Kiefer Lammi threw down during Friday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal couldn’t have been much cleaner. He touched the rim, which moved a bit, but clearly didn’t hang on.

Lammi scored with about four minutes left in the first quarter during a 9-0 run. Graham Safford passed the ball to Lammi.

“Graham actually told me to do it, so that’s when I thought about it,” said Lammi, a 6-foot-4 forward. “I do it a lot fooling around in school, in practice, on weekends, things like that. I was pretty confident I could do it without snapping the rim. I just figured I’d give it a try.”

It was Lammi’s first time dunking a game at any level.

“It’s a big stage,” he said of the tournament and the Bangor Auditorium. “It felt good.”

In for the long haul

Saturday night’s appearance in the Eastern Maine Class D basketball tournament was bittersweet for Easton coach Travis Carter and his team.

On the positive side, the Bears ended an eight-year drought of reaching the Bangor Auditorium by winning their preliminary contest.

“We’ve accomplished a lot of things,” Carter said. “We went from a five-win season [in 2005-06) to an 11-win season my first year (2006-07). This year we put up 15 wins and accomplished exactly what we wanted to do, which was to get down here [to Bangor].”

Easton’s season ended with the quarterfinal loss to Woodland and that result also ended a long-term relationship between Carter and seniors Nathan Sanders, Jeremy Brock and Nick Flewelling.

Carter has coached at different levels in Easton, from peewee ball up to high school varsity. The seniors were with him every step of the way.

“I coached the junior high for five years before this, so I’ve had all these seniors since they were in sixth grade,” Carter said. “I’ve had them for a long time and I truly enjoy being with these guys, that’s for sure.”

The first time is special

Like their opponents, the Woodland Dragons were making their initial appearance at the Bangor Auditorium on Saturday night.

It’s a moment most players across eastern and northern Maine dream about for years.

“It was pretty exciting to come here for the first time,” said Woodland junior Ben Sears. “We lost last year in a tough game in our prelim, so we were pretty excited to be here.”

Sears said seeing family, friends and neighbors in the bleachers provides much-needed community support.

“I’ve been here [before] because our girls are here mostly every year, but having the whole town behind us is really exciting.”

Considering his team’s lack of tournament experience, Woodland coach Troy Cilley was pleased how the Dragons dealt with having to turn back a determined comeback attempt by Easton.

“For as young as this team is, they handle that type of adversity pretty well,” Cilley said. “We’ve been in some tight games and we play a pretty tough schedule. The guys really weren’t that nervous.”