BANGOR – For 16 years, the Bangor Rams had tried to get back into a Eastern Maine girls basketball title game.

For 16 years – and despite the help of some future Division I players – the Rams never even got a sniff of a crown. Never even made it into the championship game.

And there they were on Saturday night, poised to do something that Laura Thibodeau couldn’t do as a senior back in 1983, before she headed to the University of Vermont. Rita Sullivan? Katie Clark? They came up empty, too, before heading up the highway to Orono and the University of Maine.

With eight minutes left, this group of Rams – including three sophomore starters – led Mt. Blue of Farmington by nine points.

And then it all slipped away, leaving 14-year head coach Tom Tennett to console the No. 1 Rams as they wept, en masse, in the locker room.

“It was a great year for us, and the kids did a great job,” said a downcast Tennett after the 45-41 loss. “They’ll know that. But that doesn’t take away the pain right now.”

That’s the pain of having an opponent right where you want them, and not being able to put them away.

The pain of striving, working, and coming up empty.

“We realized that Bangor hasn’t been here forever,” sophomore forward Alison Smith said. “And [we wanted it] for coach Tennett.”

Forever may be overstating it, but in Smith’s case, the description fits.

She was born on March 2, 1983.

When the Thibodeau-led Rams lost by a point to Caribou in their last EM title shot, Smith was all of 10 days old.

For her, the Rams’ tourney futility is forever.

This time, the Rams didn’t muster a single point in the fourth quarter until sophomore Jlynn Frazier’s desperation drive drew a foul with 22.3 seconds to go.

She nailed a pair of free throws.

With 7.7 seconds to play, senior Kori Dionne tossed in Bangor’s only field goal of the period, a runner that made it 43-41, Mt. Blue.

But the Rams’ woes began far earlier than that. Realistically, they began when senior center Kara Crockett blocked three shots in the game’s first three minutes, but picked up two fouls shortly thereafter.

From then on, Tennett was forced to bench her – and sophomore star Smith – for long stretches in order to keep them from fouling out.

And that foul trouble was the reason Tennett chose to open the fourth quarter by spreading the floor on offense against Mt. Blue’s zone.

Mt. Blue chose that time to attack, relying on senior forward Heather Ernest and a solid cast of role players.

“It’s just such a fine line,” Tennett admitted, between winning and losing.

Tennett knows fine lines. He watched as a fan when his son, John, played for the Rams. As a sophomore, John’s team made it to the Eastern Maine title game.

They lost.

As a junior, the Rams made it to the state title game.

They lost in five overtimes.

Finally, as seniors, they came away with the prize: a gold ball.

John Tennett was there Saturday night, along with all the other Tennetts, offering Tom a kind word after another unkind cut. A tiny granddaughter scampered around outside the locker room, bringing a smile to her grandfather’s face even as he offered distraught seniors one final postgame hug.

Smith is a 5-foot-9 leaper who scored 12, pulled down 11 rebounds and almost became a hero.

With 40 seconds left, the Rams trailed by three. They fouled the right player. She missed. And the carom bounced off Smith’s hands and out of bounds.

Down four with 21.2 seconds left, Smith guessed right and deflected an inbounds pass. It, too, bounced out of bounds.

“I think you definitely look back and there are so many things you wish you could do differently,” Smith said, the night’s tears dried up.

“But I think we played hard, and I think we played really well. It was just the way the ball bounced in the end.”

And for the second time in 16 years, the Rams walked away as regional runners-up.

Smith said that the loss itself isn’t exactly what everyone was crying about, though.

“We’ve had great leadership,” she said. “It’s just been the best team as far as getting along and togetherness. I think that’s one of the things that’s the hardest. It’s just knowing that that part’s gone, and we’re going to lose our seniors.”

“This won’t happen next year,” she said.