You notice those eyes when you talk to Paul True. He's one of those people who has sad eyes even when he's smiling. On Friday night, those eyes looked a little red.
True, who graduated from UMaine-Farmington and coached the Skowhegan girls basketball team for seven seasons, now coaches the Lake Region girls. In four seasons, he has brought the Lakers to the Class B state championship game three times.
In a quiet hallway at the Bangor Auditorium, True talked about the things he didn't want to talk about: Why his team lost, what turned the game for Waterville in the second quarter, why the foul trouble his team got into was so important.
Lake Region lost to Waterville 54-35. The Lakers lost to Waterville in the state title game last year, and to Presque Isle the year before that.
It's too bad -- and I'm sometimes guilty of this myself -- that we will remember a team like Lake Region for its failure to win the state title instead of its dominance of Western B. We don't think of the Buffalo Bills as beating all comers in the AFC; we think of them as the team that lost four Super Bowls. It's natural -- we remember the last game, it's the most important one.
In this case, Paul True deserves better. Someone who had seen both teams told me before last night's game that if Lake Region lost by less than 25 points, it would be an upset. The Lakers came out and led by nine in the first quarter, but then they got into foul trouble for the first time all season, and Waterville was a better team to begin with.
The Lakers lost by 19, and that's the only Lake Region game score that will be in the tournament program next year.
"We're still winning the West," True said. "Bringing the Class B runner-up plaque home to our school is nothing to be ashamed of. Would I like to win one of these? Absolutely. But it doesn't take anything away from my experience with the kids."
True's players speak of him as a motivator. His teams always seem to be undersized, but they always play hard. And if his final legacy is that he turns out to be one of the top coaches never to win a state title? Well, there are a lot worse things to be, and few people better to coach your kids.
IN THE last 13 years, a Western B team has won the state title just twice -- Gorham in 1999 and Greely in 2004. While a lot can happen in a year, Waterville should make it 12 out of 14 in the East. As long as the Purple Panthers don't break school rules and stay injury-free, they should again be the favorite next season.
Waterville returns four starters in Morgan Frame, Paige Gardiner, Jen Nale and Steph Whitten. No one in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B has an answer for Frame, and no one has a point guard as good as Whitten.
About the only thing the Panthers could benefit from adding is another strong inside player. Kayla Smith, Waterville's only graduation loss from this year's team other than Sarah Given, is only 5 foot 7, but rebounded like she was a few inches taller. The Panthers will miss her.
But that's quibbling. Next year at this time, Waterville will be loaded again, and if it loses, that will be much more of an upset than winning by less than 25 on Friday night.
SINCE WATERVILLE has proven that it is a pretty good team, and it's sitting on 44 straight victories, can the Panthers get some fans between now and next season?
I went to the Eastern B semifinal between Waterville and Erskine. OK, it was an 8:35 p.m. start, but still, there were maybe 200 people in the stands on the Waterville side of the court. Not all of those were Waterville fans, either. I don't know what the exact word is for that kind of fan support, but "pathetic" is a good guess.
Two hundred fans for an undefeated team? It's not like girls or women's basketball isn't watchable in this area -- the University of Maine women draw around 2,000 people a game, and...
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form