At the end of Edward Little’s home game against Deering last month, the Red Eddies were ahead by 14 points with the clock winding down and less than 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Edward Little senior guard Cam Yorke dribbled the ball near half-court and went for a handshake with longtime friend Askar Houssein of Deering, figuring that his opponent that he’s known since elementary school would return the gesture and wait for the final buzzer. 

Instead, Houssein faked a handshake, stole the ball and sprinted towards the hoop with Yorke hot on his tail. 

A few years ago, Yorke might have run Houssein down and committed a hard foul because Houssein ignoring the unwritten rules of sportsmanship. But a hard foul with two seconds left in the game might have also resulted consequences that stretched beyond the win that the Red Eddies already had in the bag already.

So, instead, Yorke pulled up and let Houssein score at the buzzer. After the play, Yorke rolled the ball towards the Deering players as they formed a postgame handshake line. That caused words to be exchanged among both teams and a couple players needed to be held back from going after Yorke, but not much else came of the incident.

Yorke, and Edward Little coach Mike Adams said that two years ago Yorke might have handled the situation differently.

“I walked through the lines and he came up to me and he was trying to talk, then he got really mad,” Yorke said. “He got in my face and I was like, ‘Chill.’ He was mad for no reason. Like, you just lost, I don’t care. I tossed the ball towards him. A couple years ago I probably would’ve pushed the kid and been a little more physical. I have definitely contained my emotions.”

When Bangor came to Edward Little two days before Christmas, Yorke left the court after the Eddies’ win still yelling at Bangor players and coaches. 

“I was going through the handshake line and a kid didn’t shake my hand for no reason, just some kid off the bench, and I said, ‘Why didn’t you shake my hand?’” York said. “And then the coach got mad at me. He said, ‘Leave them alone,’ and I said, ‘They didn’t shake my hand.’ I wasn’t trying to start anything but he didn’t shake my hand.”

Neither incident resulted in a technical foul.

Yorke said that this year, with the help of his coaches, he has been able to reel in his emotions. 

“Especially playing under coach Adams, coach (Craig) Jipson, this coaching staff holds me in check,” Yorke said. “They make me want to be more of a controlled player. They help you contain your emotions.

“When you do get out of control, they pull you out and talk to you before you go right back in. They still trust you, and just gaining trust, and you realize you don’t need to display your emotions like that.”

‘GOOD AND BAD’

Yorke has always been ultra-competitive. When he was in middle school, he often played basketball at the Gully in Auburn and at Kennedy Park in Lewiston against players high school-aged and older. That level of competition forced Yorke to fend for himself.

It has taken some time for him to harness his emotions on the basketball court, but this year his teammates and coaches have noticed a more controlled Yorke.

“You need that emotion and he plays with a lot of emotion — good and bad sometimes,” Adams said. “He’s done a great job at not letting it carry over. You’re always working at getting better in everything you do, but in years past it would sometimes carry over. He’s done a lot better job of moving on. Two years ago (the Deering incident) would have been a disaster, absolutely. He’s grown a lot. He’s worked really hard on keeping his cool and not losing it.”

Yorke is averaging more than seven points, four rebounds and five assists per game this season.

He has good size for a guard, where he splits time with Storm Jipson bringing the ball up the court. He has shown an ability to get to the hoop, more often he looks to pass to a teammate.

Sometimes his search for the open man hampers his own scoring opportunities, which Adams believes he should take advantage of more often. 

“If you watch a game, you’re going to leave and say, ‘Oh, my God,’ from his vision on the floor,” Adams said. “We are really trying to get him to be more aggressive and find his shot more because he’s one of the bigger guards in the conference but he is always looking to pass. … He wants them (his teammates) to do well. He’s a great teammate and he enjoys his teammates’ success more than his own, so from that standpoint he’s one of the funnest kids I have ever coached.”

Adams also said that Yorke is one of the best rebounding guards he’s coached at Edward Little, and he has given Yorke a goal of matching the rebounding prowess of former Red Eddies standout Ian Mileikis. 

His distribution skills have been heightened this season by the various scoring options around him. Last year, EL played through Wol Maiwen, but this season the team has to look for the open man.

“This year, we have someone like (John) Shea, who can dominate a game, but we have a lot of people who can score,” Yorke said. “Dan (Milks) comes off the bench, Austin (Brown), (Max) Creaser, Storm (Jipson) can make some layups, we have options. It’s easier to spread it around because we don’t go through one player.”

Yorke’s court vision has helped his teammates blossom as he sets them up for open shots. His fellow Red Eddies also feed off of his passion. 

“I think he’s so good because of the emotion he plays with,” Storm Jipson said. “He takes everything we do extremely seriously. I think we all like it, it feeds him and it helps him play better. I think if he keeps it in check, it’s good.”

Jipson said that Yorke was the first teammate to celebrate with him when he made a half court buzzer beater that went viral against Windham last month.

With the help of his coaches and teammates, Yorke has matured into a leader for the Red Eddies, who finished the regular season 16-2 and will have one of the top two seeds in Class AA North when the postseason tips off next week.

“I think just growing up, becoming older, realizing a lot of people are watching me,” Yorke said. “You want to still have your emotions but you don’t want to embarrass yourself to the point where you’re getting technicals left and right, and negative energy. You want positive energy all the time.”