50 years later, legendary Maine basketball players have turned rivalries into friendships

By Matt Junker, Bangor Daily News Sports Editor

Basketball has long reigned supreme in Maine high school sports. And once a year, some of the kings from a bygone league get together to hold court and reminisce.

What started as a phone call between two former players from the old Penquis League has transformed into an annual gathering featuring dozens of legends from decades past. This annual tradition, forged in 2019, continued recently at the home of Dexter great Mike Keyte and his wife Robyn. 

The Keytes were thrilled to be hosting the event for the second year in a row, welcoming an impressive roster of guests that included Mike Keyte’s “number one nemesis” from high school. 

Look back into the Bangor Daily News archives around 1970, and it’s a safe bet that you’ll see Keyte and Mark Rosebush, a standout at Schenck High School in East Millinocket, battling it out for the top spot in points scored. 

Those battles have been replaced by friendly texts and reconnecting over lunch. 

“It’s just amazing how quickly 50 years went by, and all of a sudden we can still connect,” Keyte said. 

The conversations now delve into games and plays from years past, and might even include some occasional trash talk. But the collection of former players and coaches who attend the annual gathering spend most of it celebrating each other. 

“It’s very special for me to reconnect with all of these people,” Rosebush said. 

He emphasized that his fellow attendees weren’t just top notch players, but great people as well. 

“We’ve got nothing to fight about anymore,” Rosebush added.

Keyte and Rosebush were far from alone in their rivals-to-friends arc at the Penquis League reunion. 

“We pounded on each other in high school and we didn’t know many people personally, and this gave us a chance to actually meet people from different teams,” said Schenck’s Frank Davis, who grew the annual event out of a phone call with Foxcroft Academy alum Dave Anderson. “And they’re not bad, they’re pretty good guys. And we all like to get together and lie about stuff and it’s just fun.” 

Attendance has more than doubled since the first in-person gathering in 2019. 

While there may be the occasional embellishment or tall tale, the truth of that matter is that this yearly get-together is a meaningful experience for a generation of players who have meant a lot to Maine basketball. 

The schools represented last week included Greenville, Penquis of Milo, Foxcroft Academy, Piscataquis Community of Guilford, Dexter, Schenck and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, many of the former Penquis League. Most of the schools are now part of the Penobscot Valley Conference. 

This year’s reunion featured more than 20 towering figures from Penquis League history.

Tom Folsom, Rich Nadeau and Mike Lizotte represented Greenville along with Dave Paul, whose father, Joe, was the team’s coach. Tony and Peter Hamlin made up the Milo contingent. The Foxcroft group featured Anderson, Dick Annis and Tom Sands. 

Carl Parker was the lone attendee from Mattanawcook and Paul Draper the one attendee from PCHS. The Dexter group included Bob Fanjoy, Jeff Jewett, Keyte and longtime former coach Peter Murray. 

Murray also played at Schenck during his own high school career. He emphasized that while today’s players might be able to get to know each other well across town lines thanks to travel ball and social media, those weren’t options years ago. 

“The only knowledge these people had of each other was head to head competition, which was fierce as you’ve heard,” Murray said. “If anyone had lived in another community, they would have been best friends probably because they have the same passions.”

Like so many others at the gathering, Murray felt honored to be included. 

Joining Davis and Rosebush in representing Schenck were Joe Gagnon, Alan Jordan, Ben McLaughlin, Mike Paoletti, Joey Deveau and Barry Goddard. 

“I don’t think it takes long being here to see the camaraderie between these different guys,” Davis said. “There were some real battles back in the day, but it’s fun. It gives them a chance to get out of the house and tell some stories.”

Other guests from outside the former Penquis League included Randy Cullens, Rick McAvoy and Terry Duffy. Maine Basketball Hall of Fame coaches Ron Marks and Dick Barstow were honored this year along with Hall of Fame referee Peter Webb. 

The lunch in Dexter also included a recognition of the late Steve Pound, a phenom from Millinocket who averaged 40 points per game his senior year at Stearns High School. Pound died earlier this year. 

“It’s very difficult to over-emphasize what the 1960s was like in terms of basketball being so important and pre-eminent in the state,” Tony Hamlin said at the lunch, noting that Pound scored 68 points in a game and averaged 40 per game even before the advent of a 3-point line. “To us growing up, he was the Cooper Flagg.”  

Pound’s loss was deeply felt by the group, who seem acutely aware that time together is not guaranteed. 

“Well, unfortunately the reality is that as years go by, I mean you lose people,” Murray said, calling it part of the cycle of life and emphasizing how much attendees enjoy getting together. “It’s a date that everybody sets for next year and they’ll be here as long as they can.”

Davis shared a similar sentiment. 

“We never know from year to year now who’s gonna be with us, and that makes it much more important,” he said.