A few observation following Richmond's Class D state championship appearance Saturday.

FINAL: Eric Aldrich scored with 5:11 left to give Waterville an improbable 4-3 win over Bangor in the Eastern A semfinals.

AFTER 2: Waterville got back into the game, scoring a power-play goal with 6:22 left in the period to go into the locker room down 3-2.

Waterville took advantage of a special teams opportunity when Tim Locke pounded in a rebound of a shot by Nick DeBlois. Eric Aldrich took the intitial shot for Waterville and when Bangor goalie Zach Hamilton failed to cover the puck, DeBlois was able to get a second shot off. It deflected off Hamilton to the right post, where Locke pushed it in.

Waterville nearly tied it with a short-handed goal, but Josh Gaudette was stopped by Hamilton on a breakaway.

AFTER 1: Playing without its best player, defenseman Shawn Lee, the Waterville Senior High School boys hockey team fell behind 3-1 in the first period of its Eastern A semifinal against Bangor.

Bangor was out quick and dominated the period, taking a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the game on goals by Alan Reese and Nick George. Joey Seccareccia added a goal with 38 seconds left before Eric Aldrich got Waterville on the board with five seconds remaining.

It's playoff hockey, and that means one thing: It's time for Winslow-Gardiner.

Again.

ESPN recently asked fans from around the nation to vote on what athletes would be on their state's Mt. Rushmore of sports.

Maine's four were Cindy Blodgett, Paul Kariya, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Mike Bordick.

That's a pretty good group, although I'd replace Bordick with John Winkin.

For those who missed it and for the fortunate ones who didn't, Rangeley and Valley put on a good show in the Western D girls championship game Saturday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center.

When Allie Hammond stepped to the line with 10.3 seconds remaining in the Western D regional semifinals, she felt like she'd been there before.

Ian Rowe was a defenseman throughout his youth hockey days, so moving back to the position on special teams is pretty natural for the Waterville Senior High School senior.

The 33-29 final score in favor of John Bapst makes it look like an ugly game, but this was actually a good one. Here are a few leftovers:

They don't really keep records for this sort of thing, but it's safe to say that Forest Hills guard Evan Worster will be one of the youngest players in the history of the Maine high school basketball tournament when he takes the Augusta Civic Center court on Saturday.

An eighth grader, Worster will be 13 years, four months and eight days old when the top-seeded Tigers play No. 8 Buckfield in the Western Class D quarterfinals on Saturday at 1 p.m., Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero said.

Like many teams, Mt. Desert Island has taken its licks on the football field against Winslow over the past several years. The Trojans got a little payback Wednesday night in the Eastern B boys basketball prelims.

The Averill boys basketball team is going back to the Western Class D quarterfinals for the first time since the 2000 season. The 9-8 Beavers are the No. 5 seed and will take on No. 4 Vinalhaven Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

This season, Averill matched its win total from the last five seasons combined. To give his team a taste of what it can expect at the Augusta Civic Center, head coach Gary Dugal plans on dusting off some memories.

"I have some tapes from when we went to the regional final against Hyde (in 1997)," Dugal said.

Hannah Fenwick heard it all night.

Monday night was an occasion to honor the players of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and Mountain Valley Conference.

Congratulations to the Oak Hill girls basketball team for its 10-8 season, one of their best in recent memory.

It's not easy excelling in the classroom and on the basketball floor. Both take time and effort.

Erskine Academy senior Garrett Holt made no excuses for the behavior that caused him to sit out Thursday night's first quarter against Gardiner.

Messalonskee coach Mike Latendresse shouted across the hallway outside the lockerrooms at the Kennebec Ice Arena in Hallowell.

You wouldn't know it by looking at the temperature, but basketball season is almost over and the quarterfinals start in 11 days. Here's a look at some teams that are surging and struggling as they head into the postseason.

A few thoughts, observations and questions on the Waterville boys hockey team (13-1-0), which is the best team in the state right now ...

Dan O'Connell of John Bapst will coach the East and Dean Plante of Old Orchard Beach will coach the West squad at this summer's 20th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl, the annual high school all-star football game played to benefit Shriner's hospitals.

O'Connell led Bapst to the Class C state title last fall with a win over Winthrop.

Western Maine won last year's game, 24-6, and leads the series 15-4.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m., Saturday, July 25.