With a little more than four weeks remaining until tourney time, the Waterville girls are the class of the Eastern Maine Class B basketball ranks.
While the undefeated Purple Panthers are running away with the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference as expected, and have the inside track to the top seed in the division, bragging rights in the Big East are certainly up for grabs.
And things got a whole lot more interesting over the weekend, with more key games on tap for this week.
If there’s any team that generated some momentum, its Central of Corinth.
Facing a tough John Bapst team at the Bangor Auditorium Saturday, coach Diane Rollins’ Red Devils were unfazed and came away with a 58-55 victory, knocking the Crusaders from the unbeaten ranks.
“I was so surprised, when they went into the Auditorium no one said anything like ‘oh my word,’ they just walked in like any other game,” said Rollins, who got a tremendous effort from sophomore center Bekka Campbell.
“After that game they were excited but didn’t go overboard, they just realized what they could accomplish. I was just so proud of them,” Rollins added.
The 6-foot-1 Campbell, who is emerging as one of the conference’s top centers, wasn’t intimidated by the presence of fellow 6-footer Samantha Gormley of Bapst, and dropped in 25 points.
“She stepped right up with Gormley being on her, played within herself and played older than herself,” Rollins said.
Rollins feels her team is playing with a lot more confidence while the Devils’ work ethic has been outstanding.
“I walk into practice and they’ve already started [stretching]. I don’t have to address, ‘let’s go girls,’” Rollins said.
Sophomore Hannah Pray is one of the conference’s top scorers at 15.3 points per game while Campbell is averaging more than seven rebounds an outing.
Senior guard Rachel Trafton, along with Pray and Campbell, has provided solid leadership while Roberta Trafton, Jocelyn Portmann and Taryn Pineo have played key roles as well.
Rollins was particularly pleased with the play of her defense.
“They love to drive, Bapst, and I just think we closed them out better. We knew where teammates were, we played together a lot better,” she said.
Central was 6-4 heading into Monday night’s game at Bucksport and is in prime position to host a preliminary round game.
With games remaining against Mount Desert Island, John Bapst, Foxcroft Academy and two with Hermon, things won’t get any easier for Central.
MDI, which takes on John Bapst tonight at the Auditorium, has won eight consecutive games following a 54-39 home triumph over Presque Isle on Saturday.
That streak makes coach Brent Barker’s squad one of the hottest teams in the Big East, and the Trojans haven’t lost since falling to the Crusaders on opening night.
Senior Anna Joy and sophomore Megan Phelps, both 5-11, put the clamps down on Presque Isle’s offense, helping limit the Wildcats to 24 percent shooting.
Phelps is one of the Big East’s top scorers and rebounders, as she’s averaging a double-double (12-plus points, 10-plus rebounds) per game while also posting a 50-percent clip from 3-point range.
In addition to tonight’s showdown between Bapst and MDI, the Trojans entertain Hermon and travel to Old Town this week while the Coyotes also host the Crusaders.
Dearing returns to roots
Last Friday’s Eastern Maine Indoor Track League meet at the University of Maine was a homecoming of sorts for Brunswick boys coach Dan Dearing.
Dearing, who skippered the Dragons to the state Class A championship last winter, is a former University of Maine and Stearns of Millinocket runner.
Dearing graduated from Stearns in 1980 and Maine in 1984. He also played basketball for the Minutemen.
Since Dearing was familiar with UMaine’s banked track and EMITL’s tradition of excellence, he was able to pass that down to his athletes, and they responded well in winning the meet.
“I was telling the kids, it’s got banked turns, it’s got a lot of tradition, the competition’s going to be great,” Dearing said. “… You get to wear spikes and you usually don’t get to do that.”
Bowdoin College, where Brunswick traditionally competes, doesn’t allow athletes to wear spikes in their shoes.
The competition the Dragons received was outstanding, as Hampden Academy finished only four points behind Brunswick.
Dearing feels the Broncos are a legitimate Class B contender.
“Hampden’s an incredible team, they’re hitting events all over the place really well,” he said.
Dearing feels the different competition and different environment will benefit his club.
“It’s nice to get them out of their comfort zone. Coming here makes you nervous, gets you uncomfortable. You really need that to improve,” he said.
Speaking of improvement…
If there’s any track coach in the state who preaches quality over quantity, its Bangor’s Maynard Walton.
In regular-season meets, he’s more concerned about improvements in times and distances as opposed to the team standings.
His Bangor girls are making progress, as they finished a close third to Brunswick and Brewer last Friday, trailing the Witches by only three points and Brunswick by 13.
Some of Walton’s key athletes made excellent strides, including sprinter Laken Thomas shaving a couple seconds off her 200-meter time and Megan Hogan clearing 4 feet, 10 inches in the high jump.
“We’re going to be OK but if we’re going to win [Easterns] they need to improve,” Walton said. “High jump needs to improve, pole vault needs to improve, shot put needs to improve.”
Those events will be crucial to the Rams’ postseason success, as they don’t possess the depth in the distance events that Brewer does while the clubs are fairly even in the sprinting events.
Kendra Lenz, who missed last Friday’s meet while attending a violin performance in Boston, will be key to Bangor’s sprint corps in the second half of the year.
