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PORTLAND — This is when you want your seniors, your leaders, to step up and do big things on the big stage. The state championship game is a chance for a player to show how four seasons of basketball led to this moment.

In the Class A boys basketball final Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena, that’s what we saw from Cordell Jones of Portland and Nolan Ames of Camden Hills.

Jones scored 20 points, including eight in the first quarter as he helped the Bulldogs build a lead, then nine more in the fourth quarter when Portland held off a Windjammers rally and closed out a 76-60 win. When he wasn’t scoring, Jones was fighting for a 50/50 ball, or helping a teammate on defense, or grabbing a steal or rebound, basically any little thing needed to tilt the game in Portland’s favor. His play was key in helping the Bulldogs pull away after a tight first half.

The No. 6 seed in the Class A South tournament, Portland is the most unlikeliest state champion in some time. The Bulldogs wouldn’t have a new Gold Ball for the trophy case without Jones.

“He played tonight like I figured he’d be playing the last year and a half, but he kept getting hurt in football. Last month, he started getting healthy and his whole game changed,” Portland coach Joe Russo said. “I said, this is what he can do. And it was worth the wait. What you saw the last month was vintage Cordell.”

Ames nearly single-handedly kept his team in the game. His 30 points were half the Windjammers’ total, and in the second quarter, Ames scored 12 straight Camden Hills points. The only reason it wasn’t 14 straight was because he passed up a shot to make a no-look pass to Tucker Whitley, who buried the open shot from the wing.

“Just a remarkable career. A fantastic performance tonight. He carried us. He did everything he physically could,” Camden Hills coach Joel Gabriele said. “He was gassed by the end of that game, because he played hard for 32 minutes. We expected nothing less.”

Russo offered Ames the highest praise, saying in his decades as Portland’s coach, Ames is as good as anyone he’s coached against. Russo compared Ames’ effort to that of Brunswick’s Ralph Mims in the 2004 state final. Mims scored 46 points before fouling out, and Portland won in overtime.

Camden Hills was playing in its first state final in 15 years, and first in Class A. The Windjammers wouldn’t have been there without Ames’ considerable talent.

Jones is done with basketball. Football is his game. A finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, given each year to the top senior football player in the state, Jones will play that sport at the University of Maine in the fall. He separated his shoulder in Portland’s annual Thanksgiving football game against crosstown rival Deering, but he never once considered stepping away from basketball.

On the contrary, while he was in a hospital bed in November, Jones thought, wouldn’t it be funny if we win the state championship when I come back?

“Sure enough, we did it,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to sit out at all. I wanted to go as soon as I got hurt.”

The Black Bears are getting a good one.

Ames could have some individual hardware coming his way, too. He’ll find out next week if he’s Mr. Maine Basketball. Saturday night, he showed a basketball IQ that sets him up for college success. Ames worked the ball up the court over and over with precision, weaving through defenders like a motorcycle through gridlock. His passes, no-look or otherwise, found a way to set his teammates up for success. Next year, he’ll play for Colby College.

The Mules are getting a good one, too.

Everyone in Maine who loves basketball got a great one from both of them Saturday night.