By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – The torch was passed in Western Class D boys’ basketball Saturday afternoon, but not before Valley sprinkled a few drops of gasoline on it.

No. 2 Richmond watched most of an 11-point lead slip away in the final two minutes before sinking five free throws to finish off No. 1 Valley, 56-49, and end the Cavaliers’ eight-year hammerlock on the regional title.

Bill Milne, the only senior starter for Richmond, led the Bobcats (17-3) with 14 points and two of his team’s 10 3-pointers. Erik Nash drained three of his four trifectas in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points, while 6-foot-10 sophomore Marc Zaharchuk delivered 11 points.

Zaharchuk also made a huge steal to deny Valley a chance to tie the game, then sank four from the line to seal Richmond’s first Western D crown since 1986.

“Going back to the years I was playing, we’ve lost to Valley at least six times in the tournament,” said Richmond coach Paul Lancaster. “This was a long time coming.”

Richmond advanced to the state final here at 3 p.m. Saturday against defending champion Central Aroostook.

Valley (17-3) lost a regional tournament game for the first time since Waynflete won a 1997 quarterfinal. The streak covered 26 games and included numerous comebacks and classics.

Travis Hovey, one of six Valley seniors, led the Cavaliers with 26 points and 16 rebounds and received the John Messina Award as outstanding player and sportsman in the tourney for the second straight year.

Valley trailed 51-40 with two minutes remaining before scoring nine unanswered points in a 51-second span.

“We’ve had some unbelievable games here, so sure, we weren’t going to quit,” said Valley coach Dwight Littlefield. “We figured if we could make a few stops and a couple of shots that we could be right on the doorstep.”

But Richmond’s matchup zone and perimeter prowess gave the Bobcats relative control throughout. Valley scored the first seven points before Richmond embarked on an 18-1 run and held the Cavaliers without a field goal for more than 10 minutes.

Milne knocked down a 50-foot bank shot during that surge to end the first quarter. Amazingly, Hovey trumped that in the third period with a buzzer-beating heave from the opposite 3-point arc.

For the most part, though, every Valley threat ended with a more conventional 3-pointer from Richmond. Milne canned one from the top of the circle to break an 8-0 Cavs’ spell late in the second quarter. Kyle Lancaster landed two from

Most of Valley’s offense came from Hovey down low or occasional strikes from Cole Pullen (nine points) on the wing.

“I think our zone frustrated them,” said Nash. “We had someone charting their shots, and what we talked about at halftime was that all their points were coming inside, so keep trying to force them out.”

Zaharchuk (eight rebounds, three blocks) was a difference-maker in the paint, most notably when he intercepted a cross-court toss bound for either Pullen or Hovey with 40 seconds left. Richmond led 52-49 at the time.

“They’re the eight-time defending champions,” said Lancaster, whose team split two games with Valley during the regular season. “We knew they weren’t going away. The kids knew it.”

Thanks to the domination of Valley and Hyde, with a combined 14 titles, only three other schools won Western D in the 20 years between Richmond’s championship seasons.