Rams facing familiar foe in EM final

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Eight trips to the Eastern Maine Class A championship match in the last nine years have been largely bittersweet for the Bangor boys tennis team.

Not since winning the state title in 2002 have the Rams advanced beyond regional play, but they’ll get another chance Wednesday against five-time defending state champion Lewiston, one of six Eastern Maine boys and girls tennis finals to be held at Colby College in Waterville.

Matches begins at 10 a.m. with Class C matches featuring the No. 1 George Stevens of Blue Hill (13-1) and No. 7 Madawaska (10-5) boys and the No. 2 Madawaska (10-4) and No. 4 Dexter (10-4) girls.

Class B play follows at 1 p.m., with the No. 1 Caribou (14-0) and No. 3 Belfast (13-1) boys and the No. 3 Presque Isle girls (14-0) against No. 4 Camden Hills of Rockport (13-1).

Class A matches at 4 p.m. have No. 1 Bangor (14-0) against No. 2 Lewiston (14-0) on the boys side for the sixth time in the last seven years and the No. 1 Lewiston girls (14-0) against No. 3 Brunswick (12-2) for the third straight season.

Bangor defeated Lewiston 3-2 in the 2002 EM final, but the Blue Devils have defeated Bangor four times and Hampden Academy once in regional play since then.

The teams have met already this spring with Lewiston earning a 4-1 victory in the KVAC championships.

Bangor’s lone win came at first singles where senior Adam Bernstein defeated Mike Butler in a clash of players who reached the state singles quarterfinals. But Bangor’s second doubles tandem of Josh Turcotte and Alex Price took Lewiston’s Scott Gagne and Eric Hall to three sets, and second seed Will Cutshall played the Blue Devils’ Ben McDonough in a tight first set before falling 7-5, 6-2.

“I’ll have to play a pretty good match if I want to win,” said Cutshall after Bangor’s 4-1 semifinal victory over No. 4 Brewer. “I think I can win if I do play my best. I know our team can win. We know what we’re up against, and we’ve been working hard to have a chance to beat them.”

Bernstein, Cutshall, third seed Ian McDonnell and first doubles player Ricky Segal all competed in last year’s 4-1 loss to Lewiston in the regional final.

“Last year was my first year ever playing Lewiston and I didn’t know what to expect,” said McDonnell, part of a winning second doubles team in the 2007 EM final. “They have quite a few state titles under their belts, and it’s pretty intimidating going down there knowing you’re going to play Lewiston. I think this year we’re going to do a lot better than last.”

Lewiston also is the two-time defending Class A girls champion, both times defeating Brunswick in the regional final. Brunswick, which lost twice to the Blue Devils during the regular season, is making its fourth straight trip to the final.

In Class B, Caribou narrowly missed winning its first EM boys crown last spring, holding championship point on its racket before falling to Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor.

The Vikings are even stronger this year, with the addition of Austrian exchange student Franz Zehentner at first singles to an otherwise talented contingent of Shane Belanger and Casey Lancaster and the doubles teams of Taylor Jepson and Spencer McElwain and Keegan Wakana and Tim Langlais.

Belfast also is seeking its first regional championship. Led by first singles player Pat LaCivita, the Lions lost just once during regular-season play, but avenged that defeat with a win over Waterville in the KVAC championship match.

Belfast ousted perennial power Camden Hills in the quarterfinals before besting Ellsworth 3-2 in the semifinals on victories by LaCivita, Lucas Riorda and Russell Varney.

The Presque Isle girls edged two-time defending regional champion Waterville 3-2 in the semifinals, getting individual victories from its singles contingent of Sarah Porter, Allison Dean and Amy Michaud.

The Camden Hills girls are back in the regional final for the second straight year and in search of their first state crown since 2003 after ousting previously undefeated Hermon in the semifinals. The Windjammers feature Erika Blauth, a quarterfinalist in the 2008 state singles tournament.

In Class C, the George Stevens boys are shooting for their sixth title in the last seven years with an lineup paced by top singles player Cooper Mor and exchange student Giammarco Manzoni at second singles.

Madawaska, which is seeking its first state crown since 1999, has advanced to this year’s regional final after falling in the semifinals each of the last two seasons, and before that the Owls played in three straight EM finals.

Madawaska was the only finalist to advance through the preliminary round, having defeated No. 10 Houlton before knocking off No. 2 Orono in the quarters and No. 3 Calais in the semifinals. Sophomores Shawn Parker, Nate Beaulieu and Christian Lizotte handle singles duties for the Owls.

Madawaska also is in the girls final after defeating Van Buren 5-0 in a semifinal played Monday. The Owls scored all straight-set wins over Van Buren, including a high-quality 7-5, 7-6 win by top singles player Nicole Daigle over Taylor Parent, a state singles Round of 16 qualifier.

Dexter advanced to the finals by defeating Fort Kent in the quarterfinals and then scoring a 3-2 semifinal upset of top-ranked and defending champion George Stevens.

The Tigers got a strong performance from top seed Denise Robinson against GSA, then pulled out two tight doubles matches to earn the victory. Dexter’s first doubles tandem of Chrissy Mountain and Danielle Burton won in three sets while Cally Mountain and Katie Eastman used a first-set tiebreaker victory as the catalyst for a straight-set win at second doubles.

Burnham named to MPA post

Mike Burnham, principal at Monmouth Academy and director of the East A and West C-D basketball tournament at the Augusta Civic Center, has been named an assistant executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association.

Burnham replaces Larry LaBrie, who is retiring on June 30.

Burnham has been part of the Maine education scene for 26 years, originally as a teacher at Gardiner High School from 1982 to 1986. He then moved on to Monmouth Academy, where he has served as a teacher, assistant principal-athletic director, and for the last five years as principal.

With the MPA, Burnham will have staff responsibility for its baseball, cheering, field hockey, football, ice hockey, indoor track, lacrosse, outdoor track, skiing, soccer and sports medicine committees.

He also will be the MPA liaisonto the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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