The Edward Little Red Eddies were up to their jersey numbers in motivation this season. But nothing reminded them what was truly at stake like gazing up at the banners in their gymnasium and eyeing eight digits: 1946 and 1957.

The years of the last state championship and last regional title celebrated in Auburn haunted Edward Little for decades. Especially in this decade, when two perfect regular seasons ended abruptly early in the post-season.

The Eddies had just one starter returning from last year’s Eastern Class A final loss to Bangor. Besides adding a lot of new faces to the lineup, the makeover would change them from one of the smallest teams in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference to one of the biggest in the state.

The addition of 6-foot 5 Shane Ciriello and Sean Daigle and 6-foot-4 James Philbrook to the starting five opened up more options for coach Mike Adams than it closed. Sure, the Eddies could be a dominant halfcourt team with Philbrook and Daigle in the paint, Ciriello draining 3-pointers, point guard Yusuf Iman slashing to the hoop and Therriault scoring from everywhere on the court. But they could also still do what last year’s team did so well – run. In fact, with so many strong rebounders on the floor, they might be able to run more.

They Eddies found themselves on the run quite often because they were as hotly pursued as any Edward Little team in recent memory, including the unbeaten Bryan Lambert and Troy Barnies-led squads of earlier in the decade. After being voted the overwhelming preseason favorite by their league’s coaches, they traveled from Brewer to Bath this winter with bull’s eyes on their backs .

Contenders Brewer and Morse made names for themselves early in the season by beating them by three points apiece. EL eventually avenged those losses.

As they prepared for an intense post-season run, the Eddies took time out for an extraordinary gesture. They asked team manager Josh Titus, who has high-functioning autism, to suit up for the final home game of the regular season. Titus checked in early in the fourth quarter and quickly scored, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. The delirium only increased with every shot made by Titus, who scored 11 points in roughly five minutes.

After defeating Brewer to secure their second KVAC title in three years, the Red Eddies turned their attention to justifying their No. 1 seed in the Eastern A tournament. Hours before their quarterfinal game with Mt. Ararat, though, they learned that Mike Goddard, the father of reserve guard Cody Goddard, had suddenly passed away.

EL fought through the emotional haze in the first half of the Mt. Ararat game, rolled past the Eagles, then emerged bloodied but unbowed after a physical semifinal against Bangor.

More knock-down, drag-out basketball awaited in the final wearing the blue-and-gray of Lawrence, a Cinderella 10th seed. Thanks to key contributions off the bench by Tyler Gammon, Bo Leary and Dominique Bailey, the Eddies survived an early surge by the Bulldogs and rode Philbrook’s dominance in the paint to their first regional title in 52 years, 58-50 over the Bulldogs.

“We changed history,” Adams declared after the victory, “and the school and the community should be proud of these kids.”

Ultimately, Edward Little couldn’t completely rewrite the history books, despite a 19-3 season. They led Thornton Academy in the fourth quarter of the Class A championship game at the Augusta Civic Center but down the stretch, lost the composure that had served them so well all season and fell, 54-52, to a team that had never won a sanctioned state championship.

It will be up to future Edward Little teams to truly put 1946 in the past, but 1957 is now history, thanks to the 2009 Edward Little Red Eddies.