After dribbling a basketball for 20 hours, being taunted by spectators in Augusta and withstanding the elements, Tom Getchell and his buddies finally arrived at the doors of the Bangor Auditorium.
The group of 10 football and track athletes from Westbrook had taken turns bouncing the ball all the way from their high school in support of their classmates, who were going to face off against Cony for the state title that Saturday in March of 1972.
The weary guys jumped out of the van, only to find that the arena was all locked up. It was, after all, 6:30 in the morning.
“We were 17 or 18 year old kids. We thought it might be fun,” says Getchell, who was a Westbrook senior that year and participated in the feat. “In retrospect, we probably were (a bit crazy).”
The wayward dribblers left their school Friday following a 10 a.m. rally in the gym. They sank a basket and walked out of the building to begin their journey, each taking the ball for a mile or so while the others rode in a van that was donated by Rowe Ford.
The vehicle followed along behind each dribbler as the guys left the city and headed northeast on Route 202, which they determined to be the best route to Bangor. What they hadn’t realized was that the road would take them past Cony High School.
Word of the dribblers route had spread and fans of their opponents gathered to “greet” them.
“There was a crowd in Augusta,” says Getchell, “That was a little bit daunting.”
The Rams’ supporters were good-natured, but there were other factors that were more problematic than spectators.
At a rotary in the capital city, the boys took a wrong turn and followed Route 201 due north for seven or eight miles before realizing their error. And then there was the weather: drizzle and fog followed them for most of the way.
They made better time than expected, however. The game was scheduled for Saturday evening, and there they were in Bangor about 20 hours after they’d left Westbrook.
“We were excited and tired. We had reservations at a hotel, and they were nice enough to let us in early,” says Getchell, who now practices law in Portland.
That night, before the game started, the guys dribbled onto the court in the auditorium and made lay-ups before sitting down to watch the action.
The whole stunt may have been just the inspiration that the Blue Blazes needed, as they won the state title by edging Cony, 77-75, in three overtimes.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
