There's no golden ball, but Maranacook boys remain focused on championship
Mar. 4—When the Caribou High School boys basketball team captured the 2020 Class B state championship on a buzzer-beating shot in double overtime, its opponent left the court crestfallen.
"It was probably as heartbreaking as you can get," said Travis Magnusson, head coach at Maranacook Community School in Readfield, which fell to Caribou 73-71 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The Black Bears were expected to be among the favorites to win the gold ball this winter, spurred by a pep talk immediately after last year's state final from senior captain Skyler Boucher.
"Everybody's in the locker room and it's really emotional, and one of our seniors gave one of the best speeches I've ever heard anyone give," Magnusson said. "He basically said, 'I know I'm not going to be with you here but I'm going to be with you in spirit and you guys are coming back and there's no way you're not going to win it next year. Let this drive you. Let this motivate you.'
"Everyone in the locker room was bawling after that."
Maranacook prepared for a state-title quest throughout the summer and fall, but the presence of the coronavirus led to the cancellation of the 2021 tournament.
"Even without the structure we'd normally have during the summer, they worked on their own and did a ton of jumping exercises, speed and agility work and tried to get in as much basketball training as they could," Magnusson said.
"I know we were wishful thinking all the way up to the season that there would be a [state] tournament."
Maranacook has looked all the part of a state champion against regional competition during its abbreviated regular season.
Not only did the Black Bears go undefeated at 12-0, they outscored their opponents by more than 40 points per game while averaging 87 points per outing against a schedule of mostly Class A foes.
"The way we've approached this is just trying to treat every game we play like it's a state championship," Magnusson said.
The Black Bears are led by 6-foot-2 senior guard Cash McClure, a state Mr. Basketball finalist who is averaging 26 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals. He scored 33 points — 26 during the second half and the two overtimes — in last year's state final.
"The state game was the best game he's ever had, and now that's just normal for him," Magnusson said. "He grew two or three more inches and put on 20 pounds of muscle since last year. He's had like 20 dunks this year and he couldn't even come close to dunking last year. He's a totally different player."
Two other senior guards, Casey Cormier (17 ppg) and Tim Worster, add to Maranacook's backcourt depth and help ignite the Black Bears' high-scoring offense.
This week Maranacook begins play in the only championship it has a chance to win, a regional postseason tournament featuring schools from Kennebec, Somerset and Franklin counties that was developed by Winthrop High School athletic administrator Joel Stoneton.
Ten teams are competing in the Classes A-B division, with 14 schools in the C-D bracket.
Top-ranked Maranacook is one of three Class B schools in the A-B ranks along with Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield and Winslow. Joining them are seven Class A programs: Cony of Augusta, Erskine Academy of South China, Gardiner, Lawrence of Fairfield, Messalonskee of Oakland, Mt. Blue of Farmington and Skowhegan.
The Black Bears are scheduled to host a quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Wednesday night's play-in game between No. 9 Gardiner and No. 8 Mt. Blue at Farmington.
"These playoffs, some people might look at them as just a few extra games," Magnusson said. "In our heads this is the real thing and I think most every coach I know is treating these playoffs like that."
Magnusson said his team plans to continue many of the traditions it has maintained during recent tournament appearances at the Augusta Civic Center.
"It's the best we can do in the situation we're in, so we're trying to sell this to our guys as their state championship," Magnusson said.
