Bingham and Moscow are two small towns in western Maine. But they’ve combined to have a huge year of basketball.
The two towns that feed into the Upper Kennebec Valley High School can now boast two state championships at the same time after the boys Cavalier team took home the Class S title on Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
The boys’ 77-46 win over Easton immediately followed a win for the girls team over Wisdom, giving Easton both state championships in the newly-created Class S for schools with enrollment under 100 students.
“These small towns struggle in finding an identity, and just having some meaning. For the greater Bingham-Moscow area, it’s basketball. That’s our identity,” said boys head coach Michael Staples. “And we’re proud of it, and the kids are proud of it, and the parents are proud of it. They worked hard for it. So to win the two balls together, it just means the world to everybody there.”
Clockwise, from upper left: Valley High School’s Fisher Tewksbury admires the golden ball teammate Harry Lois is holding after beating Easton High School in the Class S Championship game at the Augusta Civic Center; Easton’s Mason Pelletier sinks an early two-pointer in the opening minutes of the Class S Championship game against Valley High on Saturday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center; Mason Pelletier of Easton took the lead for his team in the first quarter of the Class S Championship game against Valley High at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday afternoon; Valley’s Harry Louis in a full speed sprint to the hoop drives by Easton High’s Mason Pelletier in the Class S Championship game at the Augusta Civic Center. Credit: Josh O’Donnell / BDN
The imposing boys team proved its quality throughout Saturday’s state final, jumping out to a 14-2 lead and working hard until the final buzzer.
Senior co-captains Harry Lewis and Fisher Tewksbury led the way for the Cavaliers.
Lewis was particularly dominant with a game-high 29 points and relentless effort on the defensive end that generated six steals. Tewksbury was a force with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
“Our community is just basically solely basketball,” Tewksbury said after the championship win. “It brings us all together in that type of way. And the community shows up, as you can see. They were here in the stands tonight cheering us on, and it’s huge. And to bring this home to them is just even better.”
Sophomore standout Mason Pelletier led the way for Easton once again with 26 points.
“Easton’s a tough team,” Tewksbury added. “Pelletier, he’s a good player. He’s young. I know how I felt sophomore year in the state game. I was just a little bit nervous. But they’ll be good.”
Easton finished 15-7 on the year. Valley was 20-2.
“I feel like we just, we wanted it more at the end,” Tewksbury said.