The Fort Kent Warriors made history over the weekend by winning their first-ever regional championship. And they did it by beating another legendary team.
The game at Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center ended dramatically as junior guard Aden Jeffers scored the winning shot with less than six seconds left on the clock. The crowd erupted as the Warriors beat the Caribou Vikings 48-47.
The Vikings racked up memorable moments last year when both the girls and the boys won state championships for the first time ever. Now, Fort Kent is abuzz with the glory of the Warriors’ first North regional title, and team members relish the support as they prepare for the state championship game on Saturday with Maranacook.
Aroostook County couldn’t wait to greet the team on their return from Bangor. People from as far out as Portage and Eagle Lake lined the roadsides as the bus wheeled past, waving flags and cheering for the team.
And when the Warriors rolled into Fort Kent, a fleet of ambulances, fire trucks and police cruisers formed an escort. People filled the streets waiting to see the team, and a brief reception in the high school allowed fans and residents to share in the moment.
The team and coaches are focusing on pregame planning from now until next weekend, but they all took some time to embrace the positive reception, head coach Chad Cyr said Monday night at the team’s first practice in the runup to the state championship.
“It obviously means a lot for these guys because of the work they put in all year,” Cyr said. “They didn’t just do it for themselves, they did it for the community. I’ve heard a lot of people come up to me and say they’ve been waiting a long time for this to happen.”
Cyr said one gentleman even asked to hold the plaque for a moment because it was such a meaningful moment for the town.
Assistant coach Dominique Rossignol commended the team’s dignity and sportsmanship throughout this process. They’ve heard a lot of positive comments from the opposing team’s players and parents about Fort Kent showing class and dignity amid this victory, he said.
“Those messages mean a lot about the way they carry themselves,” Rossignol said.
The entire school felt the joy. Fort Kent freshman Shanelle Rossignol said her teachers all said a few words about the victory and that everyone in the school has shown incredible support for the team.
Rossignol attended the Saturday game. The atmosphere was intense, especially when Fort Kent won within the last few seconds, she said.
“Everyone was jumping up and down and screaming, and you could see that the fans on the other side were just shocked,” she said. “Everyone was just going crazy.”
For fans who couldn’t make the trip to Bangor, the Fort Kent Cinema packed a crowd as it broadcast a live feed of the game. In a video shared to social media last weekend, viewers broke into applause at the historic victory.
Fort Kent freshman Troy Celik was in the theater watching the game, and said it was almost better than going in person because of the detailed, up-close shots of all the action on the big screen. The crowd was active throughout the game, he said, booing when Caribou took the ball, and screaming whenever the Warriors got close to scoring a point.
The theater crowd showed a lot of community pride, support and excitement, he said.
The cinema will also broadcast the upcoming state championship game at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28.
During Monday’s practice, Jeffers said he felt great that he could help win the game for the team, but he doesn’t feel the victory celebration should just be about him. He’s just glad he could help bring home that victory for his hometown and his family.
“The support has been phenomenal,” he said. “I’m just grateful for the people I have around me.”
For anyone inspired to follow in Jeffers’ footsteps, he said the best thing to do is to keep putting in the work every day.
“It’s the work that no one sees that matters the most,” he said.
Tobias Naranja, a junior on the team, said it felt great to see such a positive reception after their big win.
“It really feels like we made our town proud,” Naranja said. “People appreciate it, and that’s what matters the most.”
Mason Pelletier, another junior on the Fort Kent team, said it feels great to see all the hard work they spent practicing nights and summers pay off. The community support feels great and he’s looking forward to the upcoming game, he said, adding that he knows Maranacook will be a challenging team.
Assistant coach Rossignol said he feels good about the game, too, because he feels good about the team overall, adding that Maranacook has a very similar story this year to theirs.
“We were a 3-seed team who played the 1 seed who had beaten us twice in the season, and we won on a buzzer beater,” he said. “And they are a 3 seed who played the 1 seed in the south, who had beaten them twice in the season. So they’re very similar, if not identical stories. We know they’re gonna be tough.”
Moments like this make all the time spent practicing worth it, head coach Cyr said.
“The biggest thing about it is seeing the joy in these kids’ faces,” he said. “Just knowing what these kids have brought to the community, for joy, is just overwhelming.”
