If it sounds like high school basketball broadcasters Erik Bertelsen and Jack Brennan on BRTV have known each other for years, it should. The duo has a friendship which began in the mid-1970s centered around their love for basketball. Bertelsen and Brennan coached basketball in Boston’s Independent High School League for 30-plus years.

Now, the two find themselves behind microphones in coastal Maine, broadcasting boys’ high school basketball. The broadcast team was born two years ago. BRTV lost its longtime announcer, Smith Climo, who decided against returning for another season. Station Manager Jon Trees began searching for a possible replacement when he heard Bertelsen was a retired coach. “My wife is Abby Jones, and he spoke to her at the Y,” Bertelsen said. “I agreed only if I could get my friend Jack to do it with me.”

Jack is Jack Brennan, who lives in Edgecomb. Like Bertelsen, he coached in the same league, but at a rival school. Bertelsen was the varsity coach at Belmont Hill and Brennan was the junior varsity coach at Roxbury Latin. So the two developed a friendship over the years and understood their counterpart’s coaching tactics. Even though Brennan coached the junior varsity, he prepared his squad for the “wrong way play” against Belmont Hill. 

After a time-out or intermission, Bertelsen would have his team set an offensive play in the defensive backcourt. “There is one play that really bothered teams. That’s the ‘wrong way’ play,” Brennan said.

Bertelsen said he would instruct his JV coach against using the play. “I really wanted to save it for my game,” he said.

Brennan was excited Bertelsen tapped him as his broadcast partner. “Eric is someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for. He coached the right way. In victory, he always talked about how well our team played.”

Once they both stopped coaching in Boston, they did not reconnect until both moved to Maine. Brennan is a 1970 Cheverus High School graduate. He attended Bowdoin College prior to becoming an educator and coach. Bertelsen is from New Jersey. He was a 1,000-point scorer for Bates College and also coached college basketball. In 2013, Brennan bought a summer home in Edgecomb. In 2017, he and wife Barbara made it their retirement home. 

The two reconnected in a chance 2015 meeting at Boothbay Railway Village’s Fall Foliage Festival. Brennan was walking around when he spotted his old friend. Bertelsen explained to Brennan that he now lived in East Boothbay with his wife. 

So far, the broadcasting duo like what they see from the Boothbay Seahawks (7-5). Both describe this year’s team as “playing with a lot of heart.” Bertelsen likes the team’s intensity and execution until it is interrupted by too many turnovers. “There seems to be some inconsistency in their play. They play long stretches of really good basketball until they make too many unforced mistakes,” he said. 

An early season observation by both was Boothbay needed to develop a “strong bench.” And midway into the season, the broadcasters believe that goal was accomplished. “We were really impressed with Luke Morley’s emergence. He has definitely contributed to the team. And when he and Connor Wenners play together, they really slow the opposition down,” Bertelsen said. 

Brennan likes what he sees from junior Finn Harkins. “He seemed to come right out of nowhere. I like his ball handling and shooting.”

While basketball may be in their “blood,” broadcasting does not come naturally. Bertelsen continually fights one urge during broadcasts. “I keep wanting to coach instead of explaining what happens. It’s hard, but I’m trying.”

BRTV only broadcasts home games, but the duo would like a shot at announcing road games. “Our audience is pretty limited because so many people attend the home games,” Bertelsen said. But their audience may not be too limited. Brennan recounted a chance encounter with a viewer. “I called Ace Hardware in Wiscasset, and the guy asked if I was the basketball commentator,” he said.