Poland Regional High School boys’ basketball enthusiasts have been waiting a while — OK, forever — for a team with honest-to-goodness tournament aspirations.
Other than the brief “open tournament” era that coincided with their formative years as a school and a program, the Knights have never qualified for Western Class B playoff competition.
Barring an unthinkable collapse, the wait is over. In fact, Poland is beginning to make such entry-level goals look too modest.
Wednesday’s win over Gray-New Gloucester, 86-54, was Poland’s fifth in its first seven Western Maine Conference games. Of the two losses, one was a three-point road verdict against unbeaten Falmouth.
“We’re improving every game,” Poland coach Tyler Tracy said. “In this league, to be an elite team, you have to improve every game. I think people knew we were going to be good. The question is how will we be playing at the end of the season when it matters most.”
Since the communities of Poland, Mechanic Falls and Minot formed their own high school in the late 1990s, the Knights have never celebrated a winning season.
Poland has enjoyed glimmers of hope in that time, producing a handful of Division III college players and spinning a big upset here or there.
But the Knights were undone by the top-to-bottom strength and tradition of the WMC. A revolving door of coaches and a resulting lack of continuity were issues.
Tracy, a University of Maine at Farmington graduate, brought youthful enthusiasm when he took the job prior to the 2010-11 season. And there’s unprecedented experience on the court with seven seniors.
“We’re beating the teams that we’re supposed to beat,” said senior point guard Logan Nichols, who rolled up 21 points and 12 assists against G-NG. “We still need to step it up and beat one of the top teams.”
The Knights hinted at their promise a winter ago with a midseason victory over Falmouth, a reigning state champion in the midst of a rare down year.
Falmouth is back at No. 1 this winter, but only after surviving a 61-58 scare from Poland.
“We had a bad first quarter,” Poland senior forward Jake Littlefield said.
Ricky Bryant and Drew Peterson join Nichols and Littlefield as senior starters. Sophomore C.J. Martin rounds out the rotation.
Jed Quint and Nate Rybeck provide upper-class minutes off the bench.
“It’s a good group. They’re starting to understand what it takes,” Tracy said.
With more than half the season to play, Poland is fifth in the Western B Heal Points, which would be good for a home preliminary game.
Poland has plenty of chances to increase that stature, though, beginning with back-to-back road games against Cape Elizabeth (4-3) tonight and Yarmouth (6-1) Tuesday.
The home rematch with Falmouth is Friday, Jan. 27.
CLASS ACT
It happens every year: A power team from Class B, C or D beats a Class A giant in a holiday tournament, giving one school’s fans bragging rights while prompting everyone else to debate how much it really means.
This December it was Dirigo winning one— make that two — for the little guys.
The Cougars downed Class A champion Bangor and perennial contender Cony in back-to-back games of the Capital City Classic at Augusta Civic Center.
Class B Gardiner eventually took out the three-time defending Western Class C champions in the final.
Yes, there were X-factors and extenuating circumstances. Dirigo shares Bangor and Cony’s comfort level with the same open floor where state tournament games are played. Bangor was short-handed due to player suspensions and coming off an emotional league win over Brunswick about 14 hours earlier.
But the exhibition wins only strengthened Dirigo’s status as a state title contender. Tuesday night’s more meaningful three-point victory over Class B Spruce Mountain in an MVC showdown further embellished that resume.
“It probably punched our ticket to the MVC championship game, and that’s another one of our goals,” Dirigo senior Cody St. Germain said.
BIG SHOT FOR DEVILS
Lewiston’s spacious gym plays host to its biggest game in many years tonight when Hampden comes to town.
Hampden is No. 1 in Eastern Class A at 7-0. The Broncos already have beaten fellow regional co-favorites Bangor, Lawrence and Mt. Blue.
The Blue Devils (6-1) are the only other KVAC team with fewer than two losses, having dropped a 61-50 decision to Edward Little two nights before Christmas.
In last year’s Eastern A quarterfinals at Augusta, Hampden eliminated Lewiston, 70-51.
Tonight’s other key local clashes feature Mt. Blue (5-2) at Brunswick (5-3) and the first-ever meeting of Mountain Valley (4-2) and Spruce Mountain (6-1) at Jay.
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