Easton Bears Looking for Their First State Championship in 51 Years
This afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center the #1 Easton Bears will face the undefeated Valley High School of Bingham for the Class D Boys State Championship. Game time is 2:45 p.m.
Easton is making its first appearance in a state final game in 36 years. They last played for the Gold Ball against Buckfield in 1980, losing a heartbreaker 66-64 in overtime.
The 19-2 Bears last won the state championship way back in 1965 when the small central Aroostook school was in what was then Class S. They took the crown from Phillips Academy of Andover by a single point, 68-67. That game was played just after Easton's Centennial was celebrated.
Last weekend, the Bears defeated the Southern Aroostook Warriors of Dyer Brook 57-52 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor for the championship in the new Class D North Region.
Easton has fewer than 1,300 residents, but more than half the town expects to be in Augusta today, many sporting specialty t-shirts made for the game.
Upper Kennebec Valley High School is located in Bingham in Somerset County, a town even smaller than Easton, but with a history of being a powerhouse basketball team even against much larger schools.
The 20-0 Valley High boys’ basketball team had just one regular-season win by fewer than 20 points. Last Saturday they downed Seacoast Christian of South Berwick in the Class D South final 52-45 to advance to the state final for the second time in three years.