Four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, our sports options still remain limited. Major League Baseball expects to begin the season this coming Thursday, while other major sports are planning the resumption of their seasons soon. Sports such as NASCAR and golf have been in action for quite some time now, with many safety precautions in effect. For most of us, I’m sure viewing sports simulated video games on ESPN just isn’t cutting it.
For those of us needing a true sports fix, the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame has us covered. The organization celebrating Maine basketball’s past has posted numerous broadcasts of past tournament games on YouTube. Most of the games can be seen in just over an hour as much of the pregame, halftime, and commercial breaks have been edited out. Of the games available for viewing, several are from the 1993 season, which in my humble opinion was one of the greatest in the history of the high school game in our Pine Tree State. The year simply exuded greatness, particularly in my corner of the state. Within a ten mile radius of Bangor were three of the state’s top boys basketball teams in Bangor, John Bapst, and Old Town. We’ll get to those clubs in just a little bit.
On the girls side, I had a chance to relive the magic that was Cindy. Cindy, as in the great Cindy Blodgett. 1993 was Blodgett’s junior year at Lawrence High School. I re-watched their triumph over a scrappy Winslow squad in the Eastern Maine Final. The state game versus Westbrook at the Bangor Auditorium might have been the greatest girls basketball game I’ve ever seen. The Bulldogs capped off a gold ball run with a 66-64 victory, withstanding a furious comeback by the upstart Blue Blazes. A freshman guard, Bre Fecteau, shined brightly on the biggest stage that night for the Blazes, with her team coming up just short.
Veteran coach, John Donato, has experienced a long successful coaching career in girls basketball. Following a storied stint as coach of the Houlton Shiretowners, he had stops at a number of central Maine schools such as Messalonskee, Mount View, and Lawrence. When I think of Coach Donato, however, my most prominent memories stem from his time patrolling the sidelines with those great Houlton teams. Led by talented center Liz Nelson, the Shires won yet another Eastern Maine title. I watched again as they handled the Hermon Hawks in the semifinals and Ellsworth Eagles in the finals. By the way, you know you are starting to get old when players you watched play in the tournament now have offspring, not only playing in the tournament but graduating. One of the key players on the 1993 Ellsworth team was Shannon Hamilton, now Shannon Curtis, whose son Jackson Curtis, was a senior standout on the Ellsworth team, which reached this year’s Northern Maine Final.
In Class C, Tony Tobin, electrified crowds throughout the Eastern Maine tournament, winning their first regional title. They faced a buzz saw in the state game, taking on defending state champion Winthrop. The Ramblers, led by Dave Poulin, returned virtually their entire squad from their title run the year prior, when they beat Washington Academy on Jeff Love’s heave from the left wing at the gun in Augusta. The sixth man on the ’93 edition was none other than freshman phenom TJ Caouette.. At 6’5″, Caouette could do everything on a basketball floor, from handling the ball to posting up, he did it all, even as a freshman, yet couldn’t break the starting line-up. That’s how good ’93 Winthrop was. Winthrop rolled that night, winning 90-57 to capture their second straight gold ball. It would be Caouette’s only appearance in a state game before taking his talents to Division I Villanova University of the Big East Conference.
By the way, Coach Ordie Alley was doing his regular thing at Jonesport-Beals winning another state title in Class D. It would be Alley’s ninth and final state championship with the Royals. They took down an up and coming Central Aroostook club in the Eastern Maine Final. We would hear much more from the rising Panthers in the decades to follow.
So back to the aforementioned boys basketball teams, Bangor, Old Town, and John Bapst. Back in the early 90’s, while a student at the University of Maine at Farmington, I spent my summers working for Coach Roger Reed at his summer basketball program and the Bangor High School summer league. I remember the summer of ’92 when these three schools played each other, provided the regular cast members were in attendance, these games had almost a post-season tournament feel to them. The basketball was THAT good. Old Town featured standouts players, led by guard Matt Arsenault, 6’5″ swingman Steve Pooler, and sharpshooting guard Scott Springer.
The ’93 John Bapst team featured the most size of any high school team in our state’s history. The Crusaders were led by 6’10” Ken Rassi, who would become a first team all-state selection that winter by the Bangor Daily News. Their imposing size didn’t end there. Rassi was planked by two 6’7″ forwards in Peter Murray and Jason Webster. Their point guard, Dorian LeBlanc, at 6’2″, was bigger than many of the centers on the Crusaders’ opposition that winter. To top it off, John Bapst was coached by a master in developing and utilizing post play with Bob Cimbollek at the helm of the tall ship. Playing in Class ‘B’, John Bapst often played with a chip on their shoulders in the summer of ’92, wanting to prove they could play with and beat their big boy brethren. While competitive, they could not beat the Bangor Rams in summer league competition. At the end of the summer of ’92, they managed to beat Old Town, with both teams at full strength, at the Bangor Auditorium.
Recently, I watched again as the Crusaders used their incredible size advantage to dispatch Camden-Rockport (now Camden Hills) in the EM semifinals. The Windjammers, featuring junior Mike Geisler and a rising big of their own in 6’7″ sophomore Dale Landrith, would capture the regional crown a year later. John Bapst would face their stiffest test in the regional final taking on a Rockland team they easily dispatched twice during the regular season. The Tigers, state title winners a year ago, were coached by one of the state’s finest young coaches in Chris Elkington.
Elkington and Bob Cimbollek developed a strong friendship over the years. It was Elkington, who took a page out of the mentor’s playbook to nearly pull off the unthinkable. The Tigers slowed it down, taking high percentage shots against the mighty Crusaders. They had the potential game-winning shot in the air at the buzzer before falling just short, 30-28. This would be Elkington’s final game on a coaching sideline before embarking on a long career in educational administration. While Chris Elkington’s coaching career was short, it was certainly distinguished. In six short years, all at Rockland, Elkington’s teams appeared in four Eastern Maine finals, winning three, with a gold ball for good measure. Rockland, and later Oceanside, basketball has never experienced such a run of excellence before or since Elkington’s tenure.
When you think Bangor basketball, you think of an endless array of gold balls in the trophy case. For those in my generation, you know that hasn’t always been the case. Bangor entered the 1993 season trying to end a long title drought. The last time the Rams hoisted the gold ball was in 1959. It’s not as though Bangor basketball was terrible during that period. They had outstanding players and coaches. The legendary Frederick ‘Red’ Barry coached another ten years following their last gold ball run. Bob Cimbollek coached there through the better part of the 70’s with no titles to show for it. Throughout the lengthy drought were a number of top-seeded teams, who couldn’t quite get over the hump in the tournament for whatever reason. The Rams, entering the ’93 season, came excruciatingly close the year before, falling short in that classic five overtime state championship game to South Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland. To this day, it is by far the greatest high school basketball game I have ever seen.
Roger Reed, entering his eighth season at Bangor, did not make the tournament in his first season directing the hoop fortunes on Broadway. For the next six years, the Rams entered tourney play as a top three seed, twice going in number one, only to fall short of the ultimate prize.
You know the 1993 team must have been special when you can still recall the starting line-up, featuring all seniors, twenty-seven years later. This ’93 squad had probably as high a basketball IQ as I’ve seen in my 35 years following the high school game in this state. The Rams were paced by Mark Reed, son of coach Roger Reed, and John Tennett, who is the son of longtime Bangor girls basketball coach, Tom Tennett. Reed the younger, at 6’3″, generally ran the point guard duties, while Tennett could fill the point role, could be an athletic slasher from the wing, or hit the outside shot. Tennett was often tasked with guarding the opponent’s most lethal offensive threat.
Ryan Bradford, a wiry build at 6’5″, could knock down the three and post up. Filling out the starting line-up were Dean Heistand and Chris Pickering, both around 6’2″. Heistand shot a textbook power lay-up and had a real knack for getting to the offensive board. Pickering, an often unassuming center, could do a little bit of everything. He could handle the ball a bit, post, and knock down an open fifteen foot shot. Pickering was especially adept at setting up defenders, either making a nice back door cut, or getting that extra half step to drive by. Chris was just one of those kids that by looking at him you wouldn’t mistake for someone who would play a key role on a Class ‘A’ state title contender. He was as fundamentally sound as they come, though, and you knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt the team when he was on the floor. Every championship team needs a Chris Pickering on their squad.
Mark Reed, while certainly gifted, did not necessarily have off the charts Division I talent or athleticism. I’ve seen others with more talent and ability wear a Bangor uniform over the years but I don’t think there has been a better competitor in the Bangor basketball program than Mark Reed. His willingness to do whatever it took to win and his tremendous mental aptitude for the game are the attributes which set him apart. These characteristics have served him well and he continues to show the same tenacity on the coaching sidelines, as evidenced by successful stints at Brewer and now Hermon High School.
There are a number of things which struck me as I re-watched the four tournament games of Bangor’s 1993 title run. While the team members had their individual roles, in a sense this team played position-less basketball. Everyone in the starting line-up could handle the ball. Everyone could post up when they had a size advantage on the man who was guarding him. Everyone was expected to rebound and most importantly when playing for Roger Reed, everyone could defend. This was a true team and a beauty to behold. You could tell they were on one mission and it didn’t matter who got the credit.
Memories fade over time. As I look back on the 1993 season I remember the great battles between Bangor and Old Town. Prior to that Eastern Maine title contest versus the squad from the Canoe City, the Rams had two tough match-ups in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. In the quarterfinals, Bangor pulled away late against a stubborn Cony team and outlasted Lawrence in overtime in the semifinal round. I had forgotten how good Lawrence was that year. I re-watched the Bulldogs blow out a good Waterville team in the quarterfinals, who were led by a standout player in Darren Meader, son of recently retired University of Maine at Farmington men’s basketball coach, Dick Meader.
Lawrence had a great player of their own in Aaron Harris, a lightning quick point guard in Tommy Reynolds, and big rugged size up front. And Mike McGee’s teams are renowned for their toughest and defense.
In the regional final, Bangor fell behind early in the contest yet came from behind and pulled away late for their second consecutive crown.
The state championship game, postponed for four days because of a mid-March snowstorm and the availability of the Bangor Auditorium, was a coronation of sorts. Yes, they were facing South Portland, the team they lost to in the five overtime contest from a year ago, but the ’93 edition of the Red Riots was merely a shell of the team which won gold the year prior. Bangor gradually built their lead throughout and rolled to a 62-37 rout, ending the 34 year title drought in the Queen City.
Coach Roger Reed would go on to win seven more state championships as head boys’ basketball coach at Bangor High School. I believe some his other title teams were more athletic and talented than this team. To me, this was my favorite Bangor team of all time. This team valued winning more than anything. To this day, this might be the most fundamentally sound team I’ve watched play the game in this state.
While other teams may have been better, what this 1993 Bangor team accomplished would resonate for many years to come. They created a groundwork and program culture. They modeled for countless youngsters coming up through the ranks how the game is supposed to be played. During those summers working the basketball programs at Bangor High School, Coach Reed would hire his players to be mentors for the young campers. Oh, how the young kids gravitated to the high school players. Guys like Mark Reed, John Tennett, Dean Heistand, and others were so good to them in return. The young kids growing up could not have asked for better role models.
Sometimes it is difficult to appreciate greatness when it is happening right before our eyes. Somehow in 1993, I and many of us knew what we were witnessing was truly special. I cannot recall a season like that since.
