PORTLAND, Maine — The games will continue to be 32 minutes, and the winners will advance to the next round while those less successful will see their seasons end.
But beyond that stability, much is changing about the state’s high school basketball tournament that is less than three weeks away.
The vote last spring by the Maine Principals’ Association to expand its high school basketball offerings from four classes to five beginning this season has led to a whirlwind of behind-the-scenes activity in order to accommodate the new class at existing venues.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s decision to scale back its television coverage of the tournament, citing a lack of resources, has led to another significant change, this one involving how fans who can’t attend the games will still be able to watch them from home.
Video coverage of all regional quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games will be available via live Internet streaming services, while MPBN-TV will televise the 10 state championship games.
“We’ve found everybody to be incredibly cooperative,” said Maine Principals’ Association assistant executive director Gerry Durgin. “Everybody from the tournament committee members to the site directors came into this with the idea of, ‘Let’s do the the best that we can.’”
The addition of Class AA North and South divisions involving the state’s largest basketball-playing schools will add 22 tournament games to the annual schedule.
The Class AA North tournament will be played at the Augusta Civic Center, joining the Class A North, Class C South and Class D South.
While the Class AA regional quarterfinals will be played on the Wednesday (girls) and Thursday (boys) before the traditional Friday opening of tournament play around the state, the addition of 10 Class AA North tournament games increases the total number of postseason games in Augusta to 56, capped off by the C and D state finals on Feb. 27.
That will require eight-game days on the first Saturday, Monday and Tuesday of tournament week, followed by six-game days on Wednesday and Thursday.
Tournament officials already are praying to the weather gods, given the reduced number of sessions now available for makeup games in Augusta if any tournament contests are postponed because of inclement conditions.
“I think when you look at the Augusta site that already had three classes scheduled there and then starting on Wednesday with the AAs and looking at three, eight-game days, there is concern if there’s weather on one of those days and how everything is going to look,” said Maine Principals’ Association assistant executive director Mike Burnham.
“But I think it’s also important to note that everything is going to be re-evaluated after a year, to sit down and say what went well and what are any adjustments that need to be made,” he said.
The two Portland venues, the Exposition Building and Cross Insurance Arena, will add the 10 Class AA South tournament games to their continuing Class A South and Class B South coverage. That will bring the total number of tournament games in the city to 42, including the Class A state finals on Feb. 26 and the Class AA championships on Feb. 27.
All Portland-based quarterfinals will be played at the Expo, with the tournament moving to the Cross Insurance Arena for the semifinals, regional finals and state championships.
The Portland venues are not without a scheduling quirk. During the afternoon session on Tuesday, Feb. 16, both the Expo and the Cross Insurance Arena will be used, the Expo for Class B South girls quarterfinals and the Cross Insurance Arena for Class AA South girls semifinals.
Changes will be minimal for the Classes B, C and D North tournament at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Perhaps the most significant difference involves seven schools — Camden Hills of Rockport, Erskine Academy of South China, Gardiner, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, Nokomis of Newport, Oceanside of Rockland/Thomaston and Waterville — that were in Eastern Maine Class B last winter and now are in Class A North. That means if they advance to the tournament, they will play in Augusta instead of Bangor.
The Bangor venue will host 44 tournament games, including the Class B state finals on Feb. 26.
The move to live video streaming of all regional tournament games follows a trend of more high school contests being made available for viewing via computer.
Several Maine entities provide live video streaming of regular-season high school basketball games.
The Maine Principals’ Association already makes available live webcasts of some championship matches in activities not covered by television outlets through its relationship with the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) Network.
The NFHS Network will provide live streaming of all boys and girls basketball regional quarterfinals for the third straight year, with the addition of Class AA games bringing the total this winter to 72 contests. Access to those games may be obtained on a pay-per-view basis or via subscription.
The Maine Principals’ Association sought bids for live video coverage of the remainder of the tournament after MPBN announced its plans, with MPBN awarded rights to televise all state championship games and Northeast Sports Network of Lyndonville, Vermont, granted the live streaming rights to 60 semifinal and regional championship games for the 2016 tournament.
Fans will be able to click on one web link to access NSN live streaming of games from all three sites, and those games may be viewed free of charge.
“I think with technology and what’s happening with broadcasting, more and more games are being live-streamed,” said Burnham. “I think we’re very pleased with the opportunity to continue to cover those games even though it’s a live stream leading up to televising the state finals.”
