BANGOR, Maine — It's tournament week in Bangor for high school basketball players in Northern and Eastern Maine. This marks the sixth year the tournament has called the Cross Insurance Center home. The tournaments former home, the Bangor Auditorium, is remembered fondly by those that got to experience it from the court.
"Really special. Every game no matter what size school was at the auditorium, you could count on a really loud crowd and a really passionate crowd," said former player, coach, and official Michael Corniel.
The Bangor Auditorium housed countless memorable moments from the high school basketball tournament since the 1950's. One of those moments came exactly 50 years ago when Mike Thurston hit a buzzer beater to give the Caribou boys team its first, and only state championship.
That is one of the moments that gave the auditorium the reputation it has now. That being one of the loudest, and exciting places to watch high school student-athletes try to win a state championship.
"It was wild, it was loud, all that kind of stuff, but I think all the players back then liked that. You couldn't hear yourself think in there it was so loud," said former coach Bill Casavant.
"It was packed, and when you get 5000 people in there, it was rocking," added Casavant.
Although the Cross Insurance Center doesn't quite have the closeness and intensity that the Bangor Auditorium did, it features nearly 1000 additional seats, a court used by the University of Maine, and a roof that doesn't consistently leak.
"The court is basically brand new, it's a college court. There's a lot more traction on the court than we're used to in high school," said current Woodland boys head coach Ben Maloney.
The Cross Insurance is undoubtedly a more comfortable place to watch a game, and although some may view the atmosphere to be lesser than at the auditorium, it can still get there. Maloney believes there needs to be more memorable moments and history made like the Auditorium had. "Those are just kind of new staples that the cross center is making and there will be a lot more memories going forward," said Maloney.
The student-athletes will have plenty of opportunities to create memorable shots and moments. The tournament continues this week, and the regional finals will take place on Saturday, February 21st.