Three of the four Western Maine boys basketball teams competing for state championships this weekend also will be seeking revenge of sorts.

Class A Cheverus of Portland, Class C Winthrop and Class D Richmond all will be playing teams that defeated them the last time they reached the final weekend of play.

Bangor defeated Cheverus 48-43 in 2003, while in 2006 Calais defeated Winthrop 56-49 and Central Aroostook of Mars Hill topped Richmond 65-55.

Only Western B champ Cape Elizabeth has no such ulterior motivation, having not played for a state title since defeating Ellsworth 70-54 in 1988.

Cheverus, seeking its first state championship since 1997, will bring few surprises to Saturday night’s Class A state final at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland. Coach Bob Brown’s Stags (18-3) feature a disciplined offense and a matchup zone defense designed to relegate opposing teams to the perimeter, though Cheverus also pressed effectively at times during its regional tournament.

Cheverus lost three of its last four regular-season games after a 14-0 start, but rebounded to emerge from a balanced Western A tournament field by allowing just 40 points per game in three victories, including a 40-31 victory over Thornton Academy of Saco in the final.

Mick DiStasio, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, was named MVP of the Western A tourney and averages a team-leading 14 points per game. The first-team All-Southern Maine Activities Association honoree is joined by 6-1 senior point guard Doug Alston, a second-team all-SMAA choice who averages 8.6 ppg; 6-4 junior forwards Ian Barwise (8 ppg) and Peter Foley (6 ppg), and 6-2 sophomore guard Indiana Faithfull, an Australian native who averages 8.2 ppg.

Cape Elizabeth brings a 16-game winning streak into its game Maranacook of Readfield at 8:45 p.m. Friday at the Bangor Auditorium.

Coach Jim Ray’s top-ranked Capers, who shaded No. 6 Freeport 57-50 in their regional final, feature considerable offensive balance as well as a defense that yielded 41.3 points per game in tourney play.

Senior Tom Ray, the coach’s son, is a first-team All-Western Maine Conference choice at guard, where he is joined by 5-11 junior John Messina.

Second-team All-WMC honoree Alex Bowe, a 6-2 junior, and Western B tourney MVP Andrew Dickey, a 6-3 sophomore, start up front with 6-5 senior center Ian Place.

Cape Elizabeth (19-2) also gets a big boost off the bench, particularly from 6-3 senior Shaine Burks, a former two-year starter who returned to the roster after being ineligible for the first two-thirds of the season and has settled in as the sixth man, said coach Ray.

Winthrop (20-1) has a few key players back from the 2006 team that lost to Calais, particularly senior point guard Sam Leclerc, the leading scorer in the Mountain Valley Conference during the regular season at 21 points per game.

This year’s Winthrop team, seeded second in Western C, avenged its only loss with a 51-45 win over No. 1 Dirigo in the regional final, with 6-4 senior forward Larry Foster totaling 12 points and eight rebounds and Leclerc, the tournament MVP, adding 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Foster, who averaged 15 points per game in the Western C tournament, and 6-3 senior Tim Gingras give coach Dennis Dacus’ club good size up front as the Ramblers pursue their first state title since 1993.

Leclerc, who averaged a team best 19.3 points during the Western C tournament, heads a three-guard alignment that also includes 5-11 senior Ezra Damm and 5-8 junior Zach Farrington.

Richmond, like Winthrop, has a veteran presence back from its 2006 state final seeking to avenge that championship-game loss to Central Aroostook.

In particular, the Bobcats feature 6-10 senior center Marc Zaharchuk, who has bounced back from a broken arm that sidelined him much of this season to average a team-high 17 points per game as Richmond won the Western D regional.

Zaharchuk was particularly imposing in a 68-45 semifinal win over Rangeley, when he had 28 points – including 10 of 11 shooting from the free-throw line – along with six rebounds and four blocked shots.

Senior guard Brandon Lancaster and 6-3 senior forward Sam Carter, who scored 23 points in this year’s 61-57 win over Valley of Bingham in the regional final, also are veterans of the Bobcats’ most recent state final experience.

Zaharchuk and 6-3 senior forwards Sam Carter and Walter Miller give coach Paul Lancaster’s club size and strength in the frontcourt, while 6-1 Brandon Lancaster and 5-10 sophomore Eric Murrin handle the backcourt duties for a Richmond team that set a Western D record with 25 3-point goals during its regional tournament.

The Bobcats are seeking their first state title since 1986.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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