AUGUSTA — With 33 seconds left in the game, Matt Alley lined up on the key, looked over his right shoulder, caught somebody’s eye, and smiled. He was still smiling as Forest Hills’ Evan Worster took his foul shots, and Alley was still smiling 15 minutes later, only now he had a gold ball tucked under his arm and a net draped over his neck.

Right after his Jonesport-Beals boys basketball team won the Eastern Maine Class D title on Saturday, a fan approached coach Gordon Faulkingham and wished him luck against Hyde in the state championship game. In a interview soon after, Faulkingham mentioned getting ready to face Hyde.

All season, both the Gardiner and Yarmouth boys basketball teams have played against taller teams and won. Now that each has made it to the Class B state championship game, they get to take on an opponent who doesn’t take the court with a size advantage.

Before the basketball season began, when he knew the four freshmen on his team would see significant playing time, Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero developed his plan.

WINSLOW — How long does it take to turn a comfortable lead into an insurmountable one? In Tuesday’s Eastern B quarterfinal hockey game between Messalonskee and John Bapst, it took seven seconds.

It’s always been football first in Gardiner. When you think of boys sports at the school, football is the first one that comes to mind, always. Decades of Friday night success will do that.