BANGOR – It’s difficult enough to defeat the Calais boys basketball team when it’s playing just an average game.

But when the Blue Devils execute offensively like they did in Saturday night’s Eastern Maine Class C championship game -forget about it.

Senior forward Rod Tirrell scored 23 points and senior guard Sam Bell added 21 points and seven assists as top-ranked Calais shot 66 percent from the field to earn its third straight regional title with a 77-54 victory over No. 2 Lee Academy at the Bangor Auditorium.

“Our big-time players came to play tonight,” said Calais coach Ed Leeman. “Sammy stepped up and led us, and then everybody else followed on his coattails. He made some tough shots for us, and then everybody started playing with confidence.”

The win was the 63rd straight for Calais, which will take a 19-0 record this season to next Saturday night’s state final in Augusta against Winthrop in search of the program’s third consecutive gold ball.

Lee, which got 16 points each from Hakeem Rodriguez and Jarred Bingham and 11 from Luis Medina, finished with a 15-6 record.

These teams had had two highly competitive regular-season meetings with Calais rallying in the fourth quarter for a six-point win in its season opener and then edging the Pandas by seven in late January.

But in the meeting that mattered most, there was no late-game drama.

With Bell making 10 of 14 shots from the field, Tirrell 8 of 9 overall and 4 of 5 from 3-point land and junior forward Cal Shorey making all six of his field-goal attempts en route to a 13-point night, Calais made 33 of 50 shots – including 20 of 27 after intermission.

“Once we got behind, we had to go after them,” said Lee coach Randy Harris. “We struggled enough guarding them in the 42-foot half-court, and in the full-court they attacked the middle, made good passes and got themselves good shots.”

Bell was the catalyst, hitting two jumpers and a follow-up shot in the game’s first six minutes as Calais built a 13-4 lead.

“I was looking to get some shots early, and tonight I was able to make them and maybe that spread the defense for the other guys,” he said.

Calais then scored 10 unanswered points to extend its lead to 23-5 midway through the second quarter. Freshman Cam Shorey beat the first-quarter buzzer with a tip-in and followed an inside move by Tirrell with a fast-break basket before junior point guard Jordan Leeman fed Sean Cavanaugh for a layup and Cal Shorey for a baseline jumper.

But Lee, which trailed 16-1 in its second regular-season meeting against Calais before mounting a vigorous comeback, was not without a rally this time either.

Medina hit a 3-pointer, Rodriguez made a fast-break layup and four free throws and Bingham hit an NBA-range 3-pointer during a 12-1 run that pulled the Pandas within 24-17.

But Tirrell countered with a 3-pointer, and Bell hit a pull-up jumper from the lane and then fed Cam Shorey for a layup as Calais scored seven straight points to close out the half with a 31-17 cushion.

After the break, the Blue Devils didn’t miss enough shots to give Lee a chance to come back again, and when the Pandas did muster the thought of a rally, Calais answered with a champion’s response.

Bell scored the Blue Devils’ first seven points of the second half to stretch the margin to 38-21, and while Bingham made three 3-pointers in the third quarter, Tirrell countered two of them with 3-pointers from the left corner and Bell answered the third with a drive through the lane as Calais took a 54-37 lead into the final eight minutes.

“The good part was when they hit 3s, we answered with 2s or 3s,” said coach Leeman.

“We shot the ball well tonight, and when you can shoot the ball well, it makes up for a lot of deficiencies.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

BLUE DEVILS 77, PANDAS 54

Lee Acad. (15-6) Calais (19-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rodriguez 5 11 6 10 16 Cal.Shry 6 13

Guido 0 1 0 0 0 S.Cvangh 1 2

Bingham 6 9 4 5 16 Carr 0 1 0

Harris 1 3 0 0 2 Rogers 1 1 3

Parker 1 8 1 2 3 Cam.Shry 4 10 0 0 8

Stevens 0 0 0 0 0 Bell 10 14 21

MacDonld 0 1 0 0 0 O’Neill 2 4 4

Norris 1 2 0 1 2 Oliver 0 0 0

Doty 0 2 0 0 0 Leeman 0 3 1 1

Medina 5 13 0 0 11 R.Cvangh 0 0

Beers 2 2 0 0 4 Tirrell 8 9 23

Blake 1 1 0 2

Ross 0 0 0 0

Totals 21 52 11 18 54 Totals 33 50 11 77

Lee Acad. 5 17 37 54

Calais 15 31 54 77

3-pt. goals – Lee Acad. (1-6): Medina 1-3, Rodriguez 0-1, Parker 0-2; Calais (5-9): Tirrell 4-5, Bell 1-2, Cam Shorey 0-1, Leeman 0-1