AUGUSTA — One year ago Sunday, Edward Little lost its composure in the final two minutes and lost the Class A state championship by two points.

About six hours later and 60 miles north in Bangor, Dirigo lost a two-point lead in the final minute and lost the Class C state title by one point.

In the last week, both teams showed how the heartache of Feb. 28, 2009, continues to drive them to success in the year since, to the point where both will have the chance to find redemption 364 days later.

After winning its first regional title in 52 years last year, Edward Little won its second straight Eastern A championship Friday with its third consecutive come-from-behind victory. Trailing 9-0 to start against Mt. Blue in the quarterfinals, by 10 with four minutes left against Bangor in the semifinals, and by eight with seven minutes left in the final against top-seeded Brewer, the Red Eddies rallied to win. They were led by seniors Yusuf Iman and James Philbrook and juniors Timmy Mains and Bo Leary, the tournament MVP.

The Eddies stared down all that adversity because they essentially expected it.

“When we were looking ahead, we said we had the toughest road (through the tournament) of anybody,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “Mt. Blue in the first round is much better than a seventh seed. Then playing Bangor in the semifinals, again, who is the Eastern Maine representative for the last 50 years … and then Brewer, which beat Hampden (in the semifinals) pretty easily.”

“It’s all heart,” said Iman, who averaged 20.3 points per game in the tournament. “It started in November. We got together and said we had goals, and when we meet at the end of the season, we want to say we did what it took to reach them.”

Iman believes the experience of last year will help the Eddies prepare better for this year’s state title game, where they will meet Cheverus, winners of two of the last three Western A championships and the 2008 state championship. The Stags (20-1), led by Maine high school coaching legend Bob Brown, who once coached at Edward Little, were surrounded by controversy throughout the tournament after a Cumberland County Superior Court Justice granted a restraining order against the Maine Principals’ Association and allowed Indiana Faithfull to play their quarterfinal game  against Scarborough.

Faithfull, a native of Australia, had been ruled ineligible by the MPA when Cheverus reported that he had already used up his eight semesters of eligibility. Faithfull missed the final five games of the regular season, but returned to action after his parents sought the court action. He was named the MVP of the Western A tournmant after scoring 22 points in Saturday’s 56-46 win over Westbrook. The  MPA has said it will appeal the court’s ruling.

It’s unlikely the Faithfull controversy will serve as fodder for the Eddies, though, who still have a sour taste in their mouth left over from the 54-52 loss to Thornton Academy a year ago.

“We remember that feeling like it was yesterday, going on that bus back home,” Iman said. “It was the longest drive ever.”

Dirigo had to endure an even longer ride home later that night after falling to Calais, 40-39. Since then, they’ve also lost their star center, Thomas Knight, to Notre Dame, and their own legendary coach, Gavin Kane, to the University of Maine. But with their new coach, Dave Gerrish, and a renewed commitment, the Cougars proved that a talented nucleus remained.

“We lost the big guy (Knight), and he was a big part of our team,” senior guard Tyler Chiasson said. “But we came together. Look at all of the scoring we put up with all the balance we had.”

The Cougars (18-3) used that balance to roll through the region, winning by an average of 17 ppg. They demolished Traip Academy in the quarterfinals, held off rugged Old Orchard Beach in the semifinals and outlasted MVC nemesis Livermore Falls in the final.

Several of the Cougars played on the Class C state champion football team in the fall, but they have shown to be anything but satisfied. Chiasson, the leader on the floor, has made sure of it.

“It’s all Tyler talks about,” said senior forward Kyle Hutchinson, who, like Chiasson, was a defensive end on the football team. “He’s a great football player, but basketball is his game. He wanted us to bring the same goal of winning a state championship to basketball.”

If Dirigo does it, it will be the only school in Class C to win undisputed state titles in football and basketball in the same school year. To accomplish that feat, the Cougars will have to beat Washington Academy (20-1). The East Machias school ended Calais’ four-year reign as Eastern C champions Saturday night.

“I saw them play, I think it was against Foxcroft,” Chiasson said. “They’re good. They’re quick.”

With the state game being played in a building where they haven’t lost in two years, the Augusta Civic Center, the Cougars are guaranteed a shorter bus ride home. They just  hope it will be much, much sweeter.