Stearns High of Millinocket and Bangor each kept three teams alive on Wednesday that advanced to the Super 16 in the Maine’s Best Boys Basketball Team of All Time bracket contest.
The Minutemen are represented by the program’s three-year dynasty from 1963, 1964 and 1965, while the Rams’ remaining representatives are their teams from 1993, 1995 and 2001.
Rumford (1976 and 1977) and Morse of Bath (1963, 1987) have each qualified two squads for the Super 16.
Voting in the Super 16 began at 1 a.m. Thursday and will continue until 10 p.m. The winners will set up some classic showdowns in the BDN’s “Exquisite 8.”
Stearns’ undefeated 1965 ballclub that won the Class LL state championship enjoyed the most lopsided victory in the Round of 32, dispatching the 2006 team from Deering High of Portland with 70.3 percent of the vote.
The Minutemen’s 1963 and ’64 squads also advanced comfortably and are the oldest teams still surviving in our contest. The 1944 Waterville team, 1954 Ellsworth team, 1957 Old Town team and 1959 Bangor squad all were eliminated in the second round.
Bangor’s 2001 title team defeated the memorable 1973 Cony High team by just four votes. The 1995 Bangor team moved on with an 11-vote win over the 1969 Orono squad.
Rumford’s winners were its 1976 and 1977 teams, with the ’76 ballclub putting an end to the title hopes of Bangor’s ’59 team that finished as New England runners-up under famed coach Red Barry.
The other remaining champions that have moved into the Super 16 include 1979 South Portland, 1978 Cony of Augusta, 1985 Waterville, 1987 Morse of Bath, 1993 Winthrop and 1994 Mountain Valley of Rumford.
The ’93 Winthrop team is now the lone survivor from a classification below Class B/Class L. It edged the 2009 Camden Hills squad by a mere three votes.