PORTLAND — With judges calling it a “close contest,” Cape Elizabeth was announced the winner over Lewiston High School’s mock trial team in the state finals Wednesday. Judges stated that the high school students performed as well or better than any law students they’ve judged.

“I’m disappointed. I really thought they prevailed,” said Lewiston High School social studies teacher and mock trial coach Michelle Crowley. She said she is proud of her team for making it to the finals and performing so well. “Getting here, they’ve improved so much. They’re smarter than most adults by now. I really adore the kids.”

Both Cape Elizabeth and Lewiston High Schools defeated a number of other high school teams to get to the state finals, which were held in a real Cumberland County courtroom before a real judge, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander.

Students took on roles of prosecutors, defense lawyers and witnesses, employing rules of the court. The students objected to other “lawyers'” questions and defended their objections to the blunt Alexander. These objections were either sustained or overruled, just as they would be in a real court session.

Students gave opening statements, displayed evidence, questioned and cross-examined witnesses and made closing arguments. At times, it was easy to forget that the event was a mock trial and that the participants were students, not actual lawyers.

The trial was about a fictional case of a college student dying during a hazing incident while trying to get into a college social club. The state charged Pat Peterson, the event organizer, with manslaughter in the death of freshman Jamie Johnson. Johnson died after trying to cross a plank that was 8-inches wide and 24-feet long. Peterson, who was in charge of the so-called “summit,” ordered students to wear black hoods, which blinded them.

Johnson and other students thought they were actually walking across the roof of a three-story building, but it was merely a fake roof, just a few feet off the ground. In the fictional case, most students crawled across the structure. Afraid he would not be let in the club, Johnson walked across it, lost his balance and crashed head-first onto the wood, which killed him.

On Wednesday morning, Cape Elizabeth students played the prosecution and Lewiston students played the defense. They reversed those roles in the afternoon. Students also played the part of a police detective, a college dean, witnesses and fellow students at the “summit.”

“This is not a case about a prank,” said Lewiston student Amber Girardin in her opening statement as a prosecutor. But the defendant’s “criminal action that resulted in a tragic death of Jamie Johnson.”

Cape Elizabeth’s Abby Donnelly, playing a defense attorney, countered “in life, accidents happen.”

Other students safely crawled the plank, Donnelly said. Her defendant never required Johnson to walk.

When she cross examined the defendant, Lewiston’s Marina Affo took out a tape measure and asked Peterson to hold it. Affo extended the tape measure until it reached 24 feet and she was standing in the back of the court room, giving a visual representation of the length of the plank that the students blindly crossed.

Affo grilled Peterson, asking if she had checked to find out if students had been drinking before they crossed, and if their eyes were glassy or their walk was shaky. Peterson said no.

In her closing arguments, Affo said Peterson required students to wear the black hoods, which meant “they could see nothing at all,” Affo said. “The entire activity created a substantial risk of bodily injury, and it was sanctioned, and required, by Pat Peterson.”

In the defense’s closing arguments, Cape Elizabeth student Chelsey Whynot countered that her client placed “spotters,” or students, around the plank to catch students if they fell. She covered the floor with 14-inch mattresses. That is not, Whynot argued, the actions of someone being reckless. What happened to Johnson “was a freak accident.”

After the mock trials were over, Judge Alexander smiled. “I’m really impressed,” he said. Alexander said he didn’t want any of the students to feel bad because they didn’t win. “You all did wonderful,” he said. “I’m really shocked by how well you all did. You’re a lot better than I would have been when I was in high school.”

Two other judges in the mock trial were Hilary Billings, a federal public defender, and Portland lawyer Karen Frink Wolf. Billings said he judged the contest a few years ago and recognized some of Cape Elizabeth students. Meanwhile, Lewiston appears to be emerging as a “powerhouse,” Billings said. If the Cape Elizabeth and Lewiston students are the future “of our legal community here in the state of Maine, then I have great confidence we’re in good hands.”

Other members of the Lewiston mock trial team are Cam Boucher, Chris Brown, Jared Dumas, Daniel Fortier, Ashley Hill, Fadumo Musse, Rahma Odowa, Katelyn Roy, Ron Seguin, Peter Tirabassi and Muna Mohamed.

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