Moment No. 2: Fort Kent Wins Its First Boys Basketball State Title
Fort Kent boys basketball had already given The County one of the wildest tournament moments of the year.
Then the Warriors went one step further.
After beating Caribou on a buzzer-beater in the Northern Maine final, Fort Kent carried that momentum into the Class C state championship game and finished the job, beating Maranacook, 70-63, to win the program’s first boys basketball state title.
That is what makes this bigger than one game.
It was the full ride.
The rivalry win got them there. The state final tested them. The final buzzer gave Fort Kent something its boys basketball program had never had before.
A gold ball.
Fort Kent started fast in the state championship game and looked ready for the moment right away. Maranacook did not go quietly, though. The Black Bears pushed back, trimmed the lead, and made the Warriors answer when the game tightened.
Fort Kent kept finding those answers.
Aden Jeffers had already delivered the shot that sent the Warriors to Augusta, and he followed it with another huge performance on the state stage. Will Morneault helped spark the early run. Tobias Naranja added key production. Finn Kelly came through late with important points in the closing minutes.
It took all of it.
That is usually how state championships work. They are rarely won by one player or one moment. They are built through stretches where everyone has to do something.
Fort Kent had the pieces, and when the pressure rose, the Warriors held on.
For the school and the community, this was history. Not just a strong tournament run. Not just a regional title. Not just a great winter.
The first boys basketball state championship in program history.
That kind of moment belongs near the very top of any year-end list. It had drama, history, emotion, and the kind of finish that gave Fort Kent a celebration years in the making.
It lands at No. 2 because the only thing above it was a full-school championship year that was almost impossible to ignore.
But make no mistake, Fort Kent’s first boys basketball gold ball was one of the biggest County sports stories of the year.
Check back tomorrow as we reveal the No. 1 County sports moment of the year.
Previously in the countdown:
Preview Article: [HERE]
No. 12: County Girls Soccer Floods Championship Saturday: [HERE]
No. 11: Wisdom Girls Basketball Reaches The Class S State Final: [HERE]
No. 10: County Wrestling Breaks Through: [HERE]
No. 9: Easton Boys Basketball Wins Class S North: [HERE]
No. 8: Houlton Boys Cross Country Wins Class C State Title: [HERE]
No. 7: Ava Lerman Joins Rare Two-Sport Company: [HERE]
No. 6: Fort Kent Skiing Owns The Winter: [HERE]
No. 5: Mason Pelletier’s Tournament Takeover: [HERE]
No. 4: Houlton's Amelya Matwyko’s No-Hitter: [HERE]
No. 3: Fort Kent’s Buzzer-Beater Stuns Caribou: [HERE]
Follow me for County sports photos, score updates, local stories, and behind-the-scenes coverage from games and events across Aroostook County: [HERE]
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