The recently completed Maine Senior Games was the 20th version of athletic competition for participants over 50 years of age in activities ranging from swimming to tennis.

This year, Portland was the site of the extravaganza, and four basketball players of some renown teamed together to win the 3-on-3 competition, parlaying that success into a trip to the National Summer Senior Games in Louisville, Ky., next June.

The team of John Kelly of Portland, Frank Goodwin of Brunswick, Bob Cimbollek of Bangor and Phil McGouldrick of South Portland combined their considerable hoop skills to win the 2006 version of the latest craze in organized half-court basketball play.

The unique feature of these gentlemen’s endeavors is that they won the 65- to 69-year-old age bracket.

Yes, you read that correctly, dear readers. And make no mistake about it: This is serious competition.

Kelly, a lawyer by trade, starred for Bar Harbor High School and Colby College; Goodwin, whose car dealership, Goodwin Volvo, sponsors the team, earned his hoop stripes at Hebron Academy and Brunswick High School; Cimbollek, a retired coach, tossed in a few buckets for Bangor High School and still holds the single season free throw record at Husson College with 173; while McGouldrick, the current fire chief in Cape Elizabeth, played his ball for South Portland High.

These guys advanced to the nationals on Sept. 9 by defeating two teams from New Hampshire.

The 3-on-3 competition is comprised of two 10-minute halves. The ball must be cleared beyond the 3-point line in the half-court game. Fouls on a player and his team are recorded, thus the need for a fourth team member. Foul shots are administered throughout the contest, with bonuses offered on the seventh and the 10th fouls.

Cimbollek used to hold half-court pickup games behind his house on Bangor’s east side. The-then-Bangor High boys hoop coach had constructed a beautiful full-court hot-top court.

Mike Turner, sporting goods entrepreneur; Robby MacDonald, a well-known middle school principal; Dave Cheever, a broadcaster for MPBN; the late Dave Goldsmith, another sporting goods dealer; Cimbollek, and I had some competitive 3-on-3 games of our own back in the 1970s.

Cimbollek was the best player in the bunch. He had a patented drop-step move to the hoop. The step itself usually dropped on his opponent’s foot. Then he released the ball. It was clever and nifty, to say the least, something right out of a Harlem Globetrotters playbook.

Today, Cimbollek says the Senior Games 3-on-3 can be rough.

“Like anything else,” the veteran coach remarked, “how the games are officiated will determine our success or our failure.”

The 2007 games will be this group’s fifth trip to the nationals.

In Louisville there will be eight pools of 50 teams. Five games will be comprised of playing each team in your own pool once.

Then, the top two teams with the best won-loss record qualify for a 16-team single elimination tournament.

Staying in shape is obviously a prerequisite for such endeavors. Cimbollek rides a bike daily and mixes it up with younger hoopsters at the Bangor YMCA prior to each session.

“It keeps me young,” he said, “but the competition can be brutal,” he said.

30-Second Time Out

The Bangor YMCA has announced that the aforementioned Cimbollek will be the new league director for its upcoming men’s basketball league.

Participants can count on organization from their new director. Players will be required to be on time, respect the game officials, and demonstrate decorum and fair play – rules that have served Cimbollek well in his illustrious career.

Open gym for league participants begins in October.

BDN columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net