Mount Desert Island girls basketball coach Brent Barker calls juniors Kelsey Shaw and Sierra Tapley “gym rats.”
And he is certainly thankful that they are.
Shaw and Tapley have led the defending Eastern Maine Class B champion Trojans to a 13-0 record, which included a 70-64 win in Presque Isle where the Wildcats hadn’t lost a game since February 2008.
It was a rematch of last year’s EM final won by MDI 63-51 to snap PI’s 64-game winning streak.
Shaw and Tapley have improved their games thanks to their dedication and passion for the sport.
After the high school basketball season, they will travel to Portland at least twice during the week to practice with their AAU team, the Maine Firecrackers, and then travel to games on weekends.
This will be their second season with the Firecrackers and the opportunity to play with some of the state’s best players.
“It starts in March and lasts pretty much every weekend until the end of August,” said Shaw.
“It has been a great experience. It’s fun to play with people who are better than you. It really pushes us to get better. It takes us to another level.”
They love playing with the team, Tapley said.
“It has helped us tremendously because when you play with girls of this caliber, you don’t get a break physically or mentally,” she said. “You can’t take a second off. You have to be thinking all the time, especially if you’re a point guard. A lot of it is mental.”
The girls travel together and are driven by their parents, Amy and Norman Shaw and Wyman Tapley and Kelly Paine.
They travel 350 miles round trip from Bar Harbor to Portland during the week, not getting home until midnight most nights.
Shaw likes to do her homework on the way down and sleep on the way home.
“Sierra likes to listen to her music. And she has it on loud,” joked Shaw.
They know it wouldn’t be possible without the support of their parents.
“We are so grateful to our parents,” said Tapley.
Barker said both players have dramatically improved their games.
Shaw and Tapley are the team’s leading scorers. Shaw, a forward, is also the team’s leading rebounder. She is averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while Tapley, a guard, is averaging 14.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3 rebounds.
“Kelsey worked hard on her game over the summer and has added a guard element to her game,” said Barker, who also noted she has become a more effective rebounder. “Sierra has really stepped up her game. She’s a very tough matchup for a lot of people. She’s a very good outside shooter but she can also attack the basket.”
The players have witnessed each other’s progress.
“I have seen incredible improvement in Sierra,” said Shaw. “She is so confident now. She has worked so hard.”
“It has brought up my confidence,” said Tapley, who observed that Shaw’s ball-handling has shown dramatic progress.
“She has become so much more versatile. You have to respect every aspect of her game,” said Tapley.
When they aren’t playing for the Firecrackers or the Trojans, they’ll work on their games at the Bar Harbor YMCA.
“She’ll teach me post moves and I’ll teach her guard moves,” said Tapley, who is 5-foot-8.
“I’ve also been working on my outside shooting,” said the 5-10 Shaw.
Shaw and Tapley are best friends who grew up together in Bar Harbor.
“We spend pretty much every day together. I love having such a good friend on the court. We’ve played together so long, we can communicate on the court with our eyes,” said Shaw.
Tapley said the two of them are like “sisters. We know just how far to annoy each other without pushing it too far.”
The Trojans’ Eastern Maine crown last season was their first since 2003 and they are looking t o go a step further this season. They lost to Lake Region of Naples 56-47 in last year’s state final.
The Trojans lost Bangor Daily News All-Maine first-team selection Hannah Shaw, Kelsey’s sister, and productive Sierra Myrick to graduation but five of their top seven players off the 19-3 team returned “and they have all expanded their roles,” Barker said.
Senior captain Sarah Phelps, a 5-9 guard, has averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds from her guard spot.
“She’s one of our best rebounders. She’s long. She’s a volleyball player who can leap,” said Barker. “And she’s a great leader.”
Senior Molly Carroll is a versatile guard who averages 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and is a top-notch defender. She is the smallest starter at 5-7.
Junior forward Keely McConomy, who is 5-10, has averaged 6 points, 5 rebounds and plays solid defense. The Trojans have received a big lift off the bench from the likes of 5-8 sophomore guard Darcy Kanu, 5-8 senior forward Sara Norberg and 5-9 senior forward Alexandra Bierman.
“We have players who have really filled roles well for us,” said Tapley.
She added that the loss to Lake Region “was real disappointing” and they would like to rectify that this season.
MDI hosts Caribou at 6 p.m. Friday before entertaining Presque Isle at 1 p.m. Saturday.