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AUGUSTA — The runs were coming; what mattered was whether the Fort Kent boys basketball teams had answers.

The Warriors did every time on Saturday and now are carrying a shiny prize they’ve never held before.

Fort Kent used a 20-0 run in the first quarter to establish a big lead and withstood a furious rally by Maranacook to win the Class C state title, 70-63, at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I just told the team, ‘We need to stay calm when they go on those bursts and make sure they don’t get too out-of-hand on us,’” said Fort Kent coach Chad Cyr. “You never want to see a 20-point lead go down to a (one-point) lead, but these guys pulled it out. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Aden Jeffers scored 27 points for Fort Kent, which was playing in its first state title game after beating Caribou on a buzzer-beater in the North final. Maranacook got 28 points from Jack Fontaine, and 21 points and nine rebounds from Gage Mattson.

After Maranacook (17-5) scored on the opening possession, Fort Kent (16-6) went on a tear. Wil Morneault answered Gage Mattson’s basket with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, fueling a 20-0 run that put the Warriors up by 18 with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

“You have to credit Fort Kent; they got out to that hot start and put us in a hole to start off,” said Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson. “Jeffers did a great job, and their coach did a great job. It sucks that we lost, but they were incredible tonight. That’s the best they’ve played.”

Maranacook eventually got going, whittling Fort Kent’s lead down to 35-23 going into halftime. The Black Bears pulled within 44-38 midway through the third quarter, but the Warriors answered with nine of the next 13 points to take a 53-42 lead into the fourth.

That pattern would continue. A 7-0 Maranacook run to start that fourth quarter was answered by a 6-0 Fort Kent run to bring the lead back to double digits. Then, after the Black Bears cut it to 63-62 with 1:52 left, the Warriors hit right back, going on a 7-1 run to seal the win.

“They were bound to go on their runs,” Jeffers said. “They have one of the best players in the state, Jack Fontaine, and they were bound to make shots. Coach just pretty much told us, ‘They’re going to go on their runs, and we’re going to go on our runs, but we’ve got to minimize their runs and keep going.’”

Although Cyr said Fort Kent didn’t execute the way it had hoped in its half-court offense, the Warriors were still able to generate good looks. With Maranacook keying on Jeffers and Tobias Naranja (10 points, six rebounds), other Fort Kent players had opportunities.

One such player was Fin Kelly. After the senior center was held scoreless in the first three quarters, Fort Kent was able to generate a number of easy layups for Kelly, whose eight points in the fourth were key to holding off Maranacook.

“Fin is amazing; he’s not really (one of the) guys that are on TV getting their stats put out there, but every time we need him, he shows up,” Jeffers said. “They kind of forgot about him, and every time he got the ball, he made sure to put it in.”

Fort Kent’s win completed a remarkable run. After a blowout win over Sumner in the North quarterfinals, the Warriors beat Mattanawcook Academy, last year’s North champ, in the semis. They followed up the thrilling win over Caribou with this even bigger triumph.

Maranacook, which also won its regional title on a buzzer-beater last Saturday, fell one win short of a Gold Ball. Yet Magnusson, who pointed to the Black Bears’ jump from 8-11 last season to 17 wins this season, was far from disappointed in his team.

“I don’t think many teams could have come back five times like we did in that situation,” Magnusson said. “It sucks, but that’s life. I’m super proud of our kids and what they did this year.”