Years before the hoopla of the current spectacle known as the Maine Principals Association's Maine High School Invitational Basketball Tournaments in Portland, Augusta and Bangor, a team from Boothbay Harbor High School laid claim to winning a title on a much smaller scale.

That basketball season, 1951-52, saw the BHHS Seahawks capture the school's first-ever Knox-Lincoln League Basketball Championship.

This was about a decade before the current Heal point system for determining who plays in the state tournament was established in 1961. There were small leagues around the state, such as the Knox-Lincoln League, where teams didn't have to travel as far as they do today to play a ballgame.

And most of the facilities were far from being the shiny, well-lit gyms of today.

"They used to have dances at the Pythian Opera House where we practiced and played our games," said Fred Bergquist, a sophomore on the 1951-52 team. "Sometimes, before we were able to practice, we'd be out there on the court with brooms and mops cleaning the court, and we'd have to wait until it dried before we could practice."

Alan "Scrimpy" Lewis of Boothbay, who was also a sophomore on the team, remembers that "We'd start practice with our coats on because they had no heat. Once we got warmed up, we'd shed the coats ... but then we had to shower at home because they had no showers."

Bergquist, who lives in South Carolina, remembers that he and the rest of the sophomores, except for David Abbott, didn't play a whole lot because the seniors on the team were very good. Seniors Richard Reed (deceased), Herb Winslow (deceased) and Paul Abbott Jr. were the top players on the team that recorded an 11-4 record.

According to the 1952 BHHS yearbook, Reed was the top scorer with a 13.4 points per game (ppg.) average, followed by David Abbott (11.3 ppg.), Winslow (8.3 ppg.) and Paul Abbott Jr. (8.0 ppg.).

Estelle Appel of Boothbay, a 1952 BHHS graduate, remembers the players being "tall and wirey."

"I used to love going to the games,” she said. “The Opera House would be jammed packed. It was a social event like it is now. It (high school) was the happiest time of my life."

The team was coached by Lloyd Capen.

"He only coached that one year," said Bergquist. "He didn't know a lot about basketball."

Bergquist said he and fellow sophomores, Harvey Harrington, Linwood Benner and David Abbott, learned a lot of their basketball skills from Charlie Rowe.

"We'd go down to the bowling alley to see Charlie and he'd get us into the old high school (later made into the grammar school on School Street in Boothbay Harbor after Boothbay Region High School was built in 1956) and he showed us a lot of good basketball. He was older than us. I felt he was our real coach."

David Abbott, who also lives in South Carolina, remembers honing his basketball skills in Brunswick.

"On Saturdays, I would drive to Brunswick and play in a pick-up league," said Abbott. "They knew how to play basketball there, more so than what we were getting down in Boothbay." In addition to being a good basketball player, Abbott was a good football player who went on to play football at Worcester Tech in Massachusetts.

According to Bergquist, the 1952 team was the first team to wear the current blue-and-gold uniforms. The school colors before that were black and orange.

"We all loved basketball," said Bergquist. "We'd shovel snow off the outside court at the old school just to play. We'd also break into the school and the Opera House to play. Someone would always leave a window open for us to get in."

Before high school, Bergquist said he and his sophomore teammates played in a Maine 7th grade grammar school tournament and got beat, 108-18.

"A lot of us decided then that we could either quit or work hard to get better. So we worked hard and got better. We won the 8th grade Lincoln County championship against Wiscasset," said Bergquist.

The successful high school team was the darling of the town, said Bergquist.

"They (townspeople) supported us but when we lost, boy, didn't I hate it. They were really on your butt if you lost. How I hated going into Marlowe's barbershop if we lost. We'd never hear the end of it."

"It was a different time," said Abbott. "It was as close to being heroes as it was ever going to get."

The season and the championship

After losing their first two games of the season at Brunswick (50-23) and at Lincoln Academy (34-30), the 51-52 team defeated Waldoboro (57-27) at home and Wiscasset (47-26) before losing a non-league game at Richmond, 43-38.

After winning the annual alumni game, the team then went on a six-game winning streak, scoring 62, 42, 64, 52, 63 and 64 points against Thomaston, Camden, Lincoln, Waldoboro, Wiscasset and Thomaston, respectively. After a non-league loss in Waterville against Winthrop, the team trounced Camden 59-31, at home before meeting Lincoln for the league championship. According to a 1951 Register article, Lincoln and Boothbay both had identical records ending the regular season.

The championship game was played in Wiscasset because it was the best court in the area.

The Register article on the championship game read as follows:

"BHHS took an early lead in Thursday's thriller and were ahead, 11-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Seahawks advantage was gained mainly through team play, with no single player taking the spotlight.

"The Lincoln Academy hoopsters rallied in the second period, however, and it took two hook shots by Paul Abbott Jr. to keep the Harbor team in the game. At half-time, the rival teams were deadlocked, 24-24.

"The Seahawks battled to an eight-point lead in the third quarter, helped considerably by Herb Winslow who drove under the basket for set-up shots. The local team led 42-34 at the end of the third period.

"Dick Reed's four points sewed up the game in the final stanza and preserved Boothbay's eight-point lead.

"Paul Abbott was high scorer for the Seahawks with seventeen points. Herbert Winslow had thirteen and Dick Reed and Dave Abbott each scored twelve."

The Seahawks won, 59-51.*

The Register article went on to tell about the "spontaneous and informal celebrations up and down the town's streets. Cars paraded, tooting horns as they went. Snake dances developed down the center of Townsend Avenue ... bell ringing and drum beating — climaxed by blasts from the fire whistle."

The championship season culminated with the team being sent to Boston to watch the finals of the New England high school basketball tournament the third weekend in March. A series of fundraisers to pay for the trip (which included an overnight stay) were organized by classmates, citizens and local clubs.

"I am quite sure we attended the New England championships for all three years we played," said Bergquist. "That first season, 51-52, I feel, was the start of successful Seahawks basketball."

*The score of the championship game listed in the BHHS yearbook had Boothbay winning 57-52.