The hardest part of a high school basketball official’s life may not necessarily be hostile crowds and coaches. It may just be the travel to and from the games they work.

That was the case last Wednesday for Mark Turner, Mike Cote, and Roger Gagnon, who had just worked the Van Buren-Fort Kent boys varsity game. The trio was traveling in Turner’s 2000 Mercury Sable on their way to Ashland with Turner at the wheel and Cote in the front passenger seat. It was approximately 9:15 p.m. and they were on Route 11, just south of Winterville, when their car struck a moose.

“We were coming up this steep hill. They call it Soucy Hill. Just before that we’d seen moose crossing signs. Usually you don’t get too concerned because they’re never where the signs are,” Turner said.

But this time one was. Turner said he never saw the moose.

“I heard Mike yell, ‘moose,’ and I swerved to avoid it, but I hit the moose’s hindquarters,” Turner said.

The impact threw the moose up on the car. Turner said it hit where the windshield and the car’s roof meet. The moose was then thrown back to the road some 20 feet in front of the car.

“The windshield exploded. Both of us thought it was coming on us. The Lord was definitely watching out for us. I thought we were at least going to be broken up at best,” Turner said.

Turner suffered some cuts on his hands, and Cote received minor injuries to his neck and back. Gagnon, sitting in the back seat, escaped injury. The car’s damages were valued at $7,000.

The IAABO Board 150 referees cover games from Madawaska to Dyer Brook. It is a large territory. Turner said that in his travels he has seen moose before but never that close.

“We’d always talked about the number of miles we’ve traveled and that we’d never come close to them. Ever since that happened, I’m seeing moose that aren’t there in the shadows,” Turner said.

Turner and Gagnon immediately returned to refereeing, while Cote missed one game but has since returned. And moose or no moose, they will continue to pile up the miles to referee basketball games.

“It was scary. But all three of us are very thankful that it wasn’t worse,” Turner said. “We’re happy to be out running the floors once again.”

Topsy, turvy Big East

Just when you think you’ve got Class A Big East boys basketball figured out, another game is played.

The season began with the majority of the conference coaches in agreement. Bangor, Brewer, and Nokomis of Newport were the odds-on favorites to be at the top.

And then the season began.

Bangor opened with a win over Hampden Academy and then beat Nokomis when sophomore Aaron Gallant blocked the Warriors’ Ryan McLellan’s last-second shot.

OK, so based on that, Bangor is probably the top team in the Big East. Except that Brewer then traveled to Red Barry Gymnasium in Bangor and beat the Rams.

Bangor followed that loss by pounding Nokomis at the Bangor Auditorium when it turned in what may be the best defensive performance by a conference team thus far.

That left Brewer as the best in the Big East. But the Witches were then beaten at home by Old Town.

Old Town? The Indians were hardly mentioned as an upper echelon conference team in the preseason. But the road win over the Witches got the Indians noticed.

Old Town coach Marty Clark said that this Indians team is not the best team he’s ever coached but that he’s never had a team that was closer.

“And that’s saying something,” Clark said after the Brewer win. “It’s been fun. Every practice has been enjoyable. Everything’s positive.”

But alas, the Indians have fallen on hard times since that win. First, Nokomis rebounded from its blowout loss to Bangor by putting a licking on the Indians.

Then Old Town traveled to Hampden Monday night and was hammered on a night when the Broncos’ Ben Keller went over the 1,000-point career scoring mark.

Meanwhile, Presque Isle is playing .500 ball and ready to play the role of spoiler.

Of course, that’s just the way it as of today. Who knows what tomorrow may bring.

Don Perryman can be reached at 1-800-310-8600, 990-8045 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net