That release.

It has given opponents fits since Alex Bowe put on the Cape Elizabeth uniform. From behind his head, at the top of his jump – which goes straight up, if not slightly backwards. It’s impossible for anyone of equal or lesser height to block. And the high arching shot is so smooth.

“We don’t teach him to shoot like that,” said Cape coach Jim Ray. “That’s been learned in his driveway. He creates space to score better than anybody.”

He’s not usually the quickest player on the floor (though ask any defender and they’ll tell you he can move pretty well). And that big T-shirt under his jersey isn’t covering up the shoulders of Adonis.

Still, Bowe, a floppy-haired 6’3″ senior guard and tri-captain, averaged nearly 20 points a game in the tournament to lead the Capers to a second-straight Class B state championship game appearance. They fell to undefeated Camden Hills 62-49 in the Gold Ball game on Friday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, as Bowe scored a team-high 19 points.

“We tried not to do anything different, but he’s a good player,” said Camden Hills coach Jeff Hart. “In the fourth quarter, we decided to faceguard him and tried not to let him get touches.”

Bowe still managed six points in the fourth, but he had a couple shots deflected by the tall Windjammer defense, something that rarely occurs.

“We’re long,” Hart said. “He’s got a shot that’s tough to get to, but we got to a couple of them.”

Think that deterred Bowe from launching another long jumper or worming his way to the hoop for a floater in traffic? Not a chance.

“He doesn’t hesitate,” Ray said. “He deserves everything because he works so hard. He’s a throwback.”

And while he’ll be awfully tough for the Capers to replace, little brother Theo Bowe, a sophomore, has a shot that mirrors Alex’s, crafted on the same asphalt.

“That whole Bowe family, they’re throwbacks,” Ray said. “You want to live in the Bowe’s neighborhood. If you want to play basketball, you go by the Bowe’s to get a game. And they play.”

Bowe is one of seven seniors on the Cape roster. Also playing in their final game on Friday night were tri-captains and starters Johnny Messina and Conor Lawler, along with reserves Andrew Guay, Sean Anderson, Michael Taintor and Joe Atkins.

After the game, Ray reflected on what all the seniors meant to the team.

“Conor Lawler is that quiet workhorse,” Ray said of his undersized post player. “He had a tough shooting night tonight, but there’s so many other things kids have to do. The work he’s doing inside, the rebounding and the banging, against that size (of Camden Hills). I don’t think most people realize how hard that is, and he doesn’t say boo. He knows what to do and he goes out and does it every night.”

Messina ran the point for the team and was a disruptive defensive force in the Cape press.

“I knew in the third grade the competitive spirit that kid had. He demonstrated it. He really stepped up in this tournament,” Ray said. “He got progressively better.”

The senior reserves got onto the Civic Center court in the final moments, able to finish their career on the floor. Even if they didn’t see a lot of time during the season, Ray said they made their presence felt in practice.

“That’s what makes us such a good team, I think. Everybody comes, they lace ’em up, and they play hard every day,” Ray said. “We coach them up like anybody else. If Michael Taintor is doggin’ it, we bust him. If he’s not fundamental, he knows it and he does it. All the guys, that’s the system they play in. They buy into it. They buy what us coaches are selling. We do the best we can. But they never complained once, as little playing time as they would get. They took advantage of everything they got and made the most of it.”

Last year’s state championship game (a 56-46 loss to Maranacook) was Cape’s first appearance in 20 years. These seniors got to be a part of two.

“When you lose your last game, it’s heartbreaking for these kids. But you’re in a state championship. They should be very proud of what they’ve done,” Ray said.

And this was a team that lost its final two regular-season games, including a 13-point home defeat at the hands of Greely in the finale. The Capers backed into the tournament, settling for the No. 4 seed.

But once the tournament began, things changed.

“When we lost those two games at the end, I was kind of hard on them,” Ray said. “I was hard on the whole group, especially the seniors, about the leadership factor. They all stepped up. They didn’t whine and complain. They just brought it to another level.”

The Capers defeated No. 5 Yarmouth – which they lost to in the second-to-last regular season game – in the quarterfinals, 66-58. Next up was No. 1 Greely. Andrew Dickey’s buzzer-beater off a full-court baseball pass from Lawler lifted Cape to a thrilling 46-45 semifinal upset victory. In the regional final, Cape handled No. 2 Falmouth, 58-48.

It’s a run that the seniors will recall fondly years down the road. They’ll likely play together again in alumni games, reuniting after scattering their separate ways following graduation.

Alex Bowe is still weighing his college options, Ray said. He may go to an NCAA Division I school and tear up the intramural circuit, though Ray knows he can play at the next level at a smaller school. In fact, the coach smiles when he thinks about what a college weight-lifting program could do to Bowe’s game.

“If he had another 30 or 40 pounds on him, then whoa …” Ray trailed off, grinning.

It could make those summer duels in the driveway pretty tough on Theo.

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