It sounds simpler than it really is for the two favorites in the Eastern Class A tournament.

In order for Oxford Hills and Brunswick to get to their highly anticipated showdown tomorrow night, both teams need to keep the scoreboard operator at the Bangor Auditorium busy tonight.

Brunswick coach Todd Hanson, whose second-seeded team meets No. 6 Cony at 7:05 p.m., and Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam, whose top-seeded squad faces No. 4 Bangor immediately after, agree that their best chance to meet in Saturday night’s final will be to turn tonight’s games into shootouts.

“A high-scoring game favors us,” said Hanson, whose Dragons had little trouble meeting that criteria in their regular season contest back on Jan. 27, an 84-57 win.

“We don’t want this game to be in the 40s,” said Graffam, whose Vikings got their way in a 57-46 victory over Bangor back on Dec. 30. “I’d much rather win a game 65-60 than 45-40.”

Both teams showed in the quarterfinals that they can win when an opponent tries to dictate a slowdown game, but victory didn’t come without a struggle. The Dragons (18-1) needed all-state guard Ralph Mims to take over in the second half to beat Mt. Blue, 43-37. The Vikings (18-1) needed to regroup from a 26-17 halftime deficit to squeak by Lawrence, 56-54.

Like Lawrence, Bangor (15-5) is a guard-oriented team that will try to take the air out of the ball and patiently wait for an open shot. Chad Astle led the Rams with 17 points in their 64-51 quarterfinal win over Mt. Ararat, making five of nine 3-pointers in the process, but Bangor’s two main offensive weapons are Jordan Heath and Aaron Gallant.

“When we played them before, they got 46 points against us and those two kids had 37,” Graffam said. “We’re really concerned about trying to limit Heath and Gallant and making sure we get to those other guys.”

“They’re a 3-point shooting team,” he added. “They really don’t take the ball to the basket all that much or post up, but they do run their offense very well and go backdoor. We’ve got to try to limit those possessions to 15 seconds instead of 30.”

That’s easier said than done, particularly since the defending Class A champions are notorious for stepping up their intensity, emotion and overall play whenever they play in front of the home fans at “the Mecca.” Graffam thinks his players will be prepared for a playoff atmosphere that is unlike any they’ve encountered before.

“This is a pretty level-headed group of kids, and I think being there last week really makes a big difference, even though it wasn’t as loud as it’s going to be this weekend,” Graffam said.

Bangor hopes the Vikes’ long bus trip to play in front of what will be an overwhelmingly hostile crowd can be the equalizer, because in terms of overall talent and depth, Oxford Hills has the clear advantage. The Vikings hope to get out and run and they have plenty of athletes to do it, with senior center Corey Tielinen, junior guard Matt McDonnell and sophomore twins Leif and Thomas Kothe.

Brunswick boasts perhaps the premier athlete in the state in Mims, the reigning Sun Journal Player of the Year and a highly sought Division I prospect. The Dragons have some other talented players, including juniors Jesse Kaplan and Kevin Scully, but Hanson’s concern is that Mims’ teammates sometimes rely on him to be a one-man show.

Cony, by contrast, tends to spread the offense around, though junior forward Doug Joerss has emerged as one of the state’s biggest surprises this season.

Fellow forward Adam Normandin and guards Tyler Hunt and Adam Vachon give the Rams (15-5) form a steady, if unspectacular, senior nucleus that somehow finds a way to get the job done.

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