I am writing as a high school basketball junkie this week, so if you're not a fan, stop reading and walk out of the gym.

It's high school tournament time in Maine again and having been hooked on hoop since the late 1960s, the excitement is building. Watching Coach Keith Mahaney's Seahawk teams go up against the likes of Yarmouth and Old Orchard Beach in the late 1960s, with my Uncle Ray serving as an assistant coach and my cousin, Paul Lorrain, one of the players on those teams, I guess I was destined to become a fan.

In the early 1970s, the new Augusta Civic Center was the happening place the third week in February. In 1973, I watched Coach Ordie Alley's Jonesport-Beals team put on a clinic against Wiscasset (100-77). It was then I learned that passing, cutting, rebounding, team defense and shooting were some of the most important skills a player must have to be a good player.

And who can forget the excitement when the Seahawk teams of the late 1970s became dominant. I followed them through the Bangor Daily News during my college days and I remember walking into the Bangor Auditorium in 1979 to see half the town waiting to cheer on Danny Williams and company against George Stevens Academy in the state final.

Onto the '80s and the magical, championship season of the Lady Seahawks in 1984 (I was on the bench in the championship game against Central taking stats for Coach David Landry). What a game! And in that decade, Coach Pinkham's teams battled the Hyde and Fryeburg teams that, let's just say, had players that didn't hone their skills in the local elementary programs.

In the 1990s, the Seahawks and Yachtsmen of Falmouth had many battles. Somehow, as tournament time approaches, I still hear that name come over the loudspeaker in my brain ... "Roger Levesque for three!"

And "We got it done in 2001" at the Bangor Auditorium over the Piscataquis. And we closed down the Auditorium in 2013 in a great battle with Penquis.

So, have I pumped you up? Are you ready for some ... high school tournament basketball?