The road to tournament success for the Bangor High School boys basketball team now enters the Portland stage, with the rest of postseason play in Class AA set for the Cross Insurance Arena.
Top-ranked Bangor (17-2) and No. 5 Portland (11-8) meet at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second of two North region semifinals, just after No. 2 and defending state champion Edward Little of Auburn (17-2) faces No. 3 Oxford Hills of South Paris (13-6) at 2 p.m.
Bangor, which scored its first tournament victory since 2012 with last Tuesday’s 68-36 victory over Lewiston at Red Barry Gymnasium in the Queen City, is playing Portland for the second time this winter.
[Check out the latest AA North boys bracket standings here]
The first meeting marked a signature victory of sorts for coach Brad Libby’s Bangor club, which trailed Portland by 15 points at halftime of their Dec. 21 meeting in Bangor before outscoring the Bulldogs 26-3 in the third quarter en route to a 64-58 victory.
Portland, which won two of the first three Class AA state titles in 2016 and 2017 after high school basketball in Maine was expanded from four to five classes, advanced to the semifinals when Stillman Mahan’s 3-pointer at the final buzzer gave coach Joe Russo’s club a 51-50 quarterfinal victory over cross-city rival and No. 4 seed Deering.
THE SHOT HEARD ROUND PORTLAND! MUST SEE BUZZER BEATER!! pic.twitter.com/jWn4YOcFW9
— Dave Eid (@DaveEidWGME) February 16, 2019
Edward Little has won its last nine games, including a 45-34 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 Windham.
Coach Mike Adams’ Red Eddies also own two regular-season wins over Oxford Hills, 49-34 at South Paris in their mutual season opener last Dec. 7 and 58-53 at Auburn on Jan. 19.
Oxford Hills has rebounded from an 0-3 start to win 13 of its last 16 games, including a 71-58 quarterfinal win over No. 6 Cheverus of Portland.
Top-seeded Thornton Academy of Saco leads the four Class AA South semifinalists that will compete for championship-game berths during Tuesday’s evening session at the Cross Insurance Arena.
That session begins at 6:30 p.m. when No. 2 Bonny Eagle of Standish (16-3) faces No. 3 South Portland (11-8), followed by Thornton Academy (15-4) against fifth-ranked and defending regional champion Scarborough (11-8) at 8 p.m.
[Check out the latest AA South boys tourney standings here]
Thornton defeated Scarborough 49-43 at Saco during their lone regular-season meeting on Feb. 5.
TA defeated No. 8 Noble of North Berwick 66-29 in the quarterfinals while Scarborough upended No. 4 Gorham 59-54.
South Portland, the Class AA South champion in both 2016 and 2017, topped No. 6 Sanford 65-39 in its quarterfinal while Bonny Eagle handled No. 7 Massabesic of Waterboro 49-34.
Bonny Eagle has won its last nine games since a 58-25 loss at South Portland in the only regular-season meeting between the teams on Jan. 12.
The Class AA North boys championship game is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, also at the Cross Insurance Arena, with the Class AA South final to follow at 8 p.m.
