With its 40-33 victory over two-time defending state champion Southern Aroostook on Thursday, the Bangor Christian boys basketball team is now just two wins away from making school history.
The Patriots (17-3) have never hoisted a gold ball before, and they will have a shot at appearing in their first state title game in 21 years on Saturday afternoon, when they play undefeated Schenck for the third time this season in a highly-anticipated Class D North championship.
The Wolverines and Patriots have been far and away the best two teams in the region this year, with two Maine McDonald’s All-Stars apiece — Brady McAvoy and Mason McDunnah for Schenck; Jalen Reed and Conrad Straubel for Bangor Christian — and elite defensive schemes allowing just 33.2 and 34.4 points per game, respectively. But the Wolverines (20-0) have already beaten Bangor Christian twice this year, making them the prohibitive favorites to cut down the nets at the Cross Center on Saturday.
“They have a definite advantage over us in size — we’re not supposed to win. They’re supposed to win,” five-year Bangor Christian head coach Charlie Colson said on Friday night. “We start two sophomores and a freshman, so we’re young and [we’ll] be nervous, but you know the old adage is it’s really difficult to beat a team three times in a row.”
The previous two battles between Schenck and Bangor Christian have been grindy, defensive masterclasses, with Schenck winning 41-24 away on Dec. 14, and 44-35 at home on Jan. 9. Schenck ran man defense the first time around, and its 1-2-2 zone the second time around, meaning Bangor Christian hasn’t seen anything twice, but has also seen nearly everything Schenck could potentially throw at them.
Saturday’s rematch is expected to be just as low-scoring, and Colson thinks that if his team can match Schenck’s fundamentals, they have a solid chance at pulling off the upset.
“I went out of the gym tonight feeling the same way I did the night before Southern Aroostook — we had a good, concentrated practice and the kids were accepting instruction, getting ready to play,” Colson said. “We worked a lot on rebounding today — to me, the overwhelming difference in that game is gonna be rebounding. If we can rebound with them, we can stay with them. If we can’t, it might be a very long day for us.”
A potential loss on Saturday would be the final game Colson will have the opportunity to coach four-year starters Jalen Reed and Conrad Straubel, the poster children of Bangor Christian’s renaissance the last few years.
Since going 1-17 in 2019-20, Colson, Reed, Straubel and company have totally turned the program around, with younger brothers freshman Rajon Reed and sophomore Elliot Straubel providing the extra fuel to propel the Patriots to the regional final. Losing Jalen and Conrad at the end of this season will be a massive blow, but Colson says this is just the beginning.
“There’s no pressure on us,” Colson said. “My job’s not to build a program that’s a one shot wonder — we’re trying to build a program that competes year after year after year, and has a set of basic premises that everything [stems] from. For example, with us, defense first. We pride ourselves and will continue to pride ourselves on our defense.”
