Ever wish you could freeze time? Just suspend everything and gaze at the expression on everyone's faces?

The perfect moment came around 4:45 p.m. Saturday at the Portland Expo. Greely was trailing Falmouth by two points with about a second left in their Western Class B quarterfinal. Erik Thayer of Greely had just lofted a 3-point shot from left of the foul line.

Freeze it.

The intensity in Thayer's eyes as the ball arched toward the basket. The look of horror on the Falmouth players' faces as they realized their season, and for some their high school basketball careers, was about to end. The cheers starting to erupt from the wide-eyed Greely fans, subdued most of the day but who in seconds would storm the court.

Unfreeze it.

Basket. Victory for Greely. Heartbreak for Falmouth. And another chapter in the long, proud history of the Maine high school basketball tournaments, as well as another chapter in the long, proud history of these neighboring schools, had been written.

The ending was a bright spot in what, truth to tell, was a less-than-compelling day at the Expo. Freeport pulled a mild surprise by sending Mountain Valley packing long before its usual departure date, but other than that … Yarmouth rolled, Cape Elizabeth rolled and South Portland rolled.

And then, lo and hold, the night ended with a corker, Thornton Academy trailing, trailing, trailing … then winning by a point when Westbrook's final shot was ever-so-close but failed to drop.

Same story for much of the day in Augusta, where Rangeley beat Seacoast Christian in a fun-to-watch Western Class D quarterfinal, but little else qualifed as suspense.

In Bangor, the highlight was Ryan Martin and his unbeaten Maranacook teammates involved in an intriguing victory against Rockland, a game that surprisingly went to the final seconds in Eastern Class B.

And now we rest. A day off before it all resumes Monday, with the girls' tournaments taking center stage for the most part as a prelude for the waited-all-season semifinal and final matchups later in the week.
And more moments worth freezing, of course.