With most teams reaching the halfway point in their schedules, next month’s Class B North girls basketball tournament could become one of the most intriguing in any division in years.
Entering Tuesday night’s games, there were five teams with just one loss. No other division in North or South had as many teams with one or fewer losses.
Class B newcomer and defending state Class C champ Houlton was 8-1, and Big East rivals Presque Isle and Ellsworth were 7-1 as was Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference club Winslow.
Mount Desert Island was 6-1.
Presque Isle, Mount Desert Island and Houlton have all won regional titles in the past four seasons. Presque Isle has won three, including last year’s, and it notched state B championships in 2012 and 2013. MDI was the regional winner in 2014, and Houlton earned its first gold ball since 1991 last winter in Class C.
Houlton was the B titlist in 1991.
Winslow last claimed a regional title in 2005 and the Raiders also captured the state title while Ellsworth hasn’t won a regional B crown since 1992.
“I could see six or seven teams winning it. It’s just a very good class, overall, in terms of parity,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said.
“It’s going to be very, very interesting,” said MDI coach Brent Barker. “It’s going to be a very competitive tournament. We’ve beaten Houlton, Houlton has beaten Presque Isle, and Presque Isle has beaten us.”
There are plenty of questions surrounding the teams with one loss that could be answered in the second half of the season.
Can MDI develop enough quality depth to take the pressure off Sierra Tapley and Kelsey Shaw? Can Presque Isle beat a quality opponent if the Wildcats don’t shoot well? Can Houlton rebound and defend well enough without the dominant inside presence of Katie Condon? Will Winslow’s lack of size hurt the Raiders against taller teams? Will Ellsworth be able to generate supplemental scoring to complement Madison Card and Kate Whitney?
Presque Isle firmly established itself as one of the favorites last week with impressive back-to-back home wins over MDI (80-57) and Ellsworth (63-38).
“We had a great week. We play well at home,” said Presque Isle coach Jeff Hudson. “But I think MDI and Houlton are a little bit above the rest of us. Winslow and Ellsworth are solid, and Central and John Bapst are dangerous.
“If we play well, we can beat anybody. But we could also lose to anybody,” he added.
He feels the Wildcats are starting to believe in themselves, and the emergence of sophomore guard Emily Wheaton has been a catalyst behind their success.
She has averaged 21 points over her last four games and is averaging 17 points and over three assists per game on the season.
Hudson said junior Emily Lagerstrom, a 3-point specialist her first two seasons, has become more of a complete player who can take the ball to the hoop and the underrated Taylor Williams is averaging 11 points per game. The coach’s daughter, Olivia Hudson, has been a resourceful guard, and 6-1 Regan Nelson and 5-11 Skylar Vogel have combined for 14-15 points and 10-12 rebounds per game.
Houlton will have to adjust because standout forward Condon is out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury. She averaged double figures in points and rebounds virtually every game.
“That hurts, for sure,” said Graham. “With Katie, we may have had a slight edge over the other top teams. This really levels the playing field.
She also was an effective press breaker, passer and interior defender.
But Graham said 5-9 sophomore forward Aspen Flewelling, who is more of a perimeter player, has helped fill the void by averaging 11 points per game.
Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball second-teamer Kolleen Bouchard, a 5-10 guard, has had her role expanded to include more minutes in the paint and is averaging over 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game. Guard Natalie Hill has produced 12 points, four assists and three steals.
MDI has two gems in third team All-Maine guard Tapley and honorable mention Shaw, who are averaging 17 and 15 points per game. The sharp-shooting Tapley can score from anywhere, and Shaw is exceptional around the paint. Shaw and Keely McConomy have averaged eight rebounds per game, and Shaw is making over four steals per game.
The transfer of speedy tempo-changer Darcy Kanu has hurt the Trojans so players such as Abbe Miller, Maddy Candage, Mariah Hamor, Cassidy Paradis and Maya Watras are taking on more prominent roles.
“We’re getting a few players acclimated to the speed and aggressiveness of varsity basketball, and we’re still trying to find our defensive stamp on things,” said Barker.
Winslow doesn’t have a player above 5-9, but the Raiders are deep and love to play uptempo basketball.
“We have to outrun teams, and our girls are sold on it. We’re not very tall, but we work really hard on the boards and have outrebounded most of our opponents,” said Winslow coach Lindsay (Welch) Withee, who uses 10 players every night.
Impressive freshmen Weslee Littlefield and Paige Trask have been important contributors with point guard Littlefield doing “a great job handling the ball,” according to Withee, and Trask being a productive scorer averaging nine to 10 points per game.
Junior forward Heather Kervin is averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds, senior Delaney Wood has been the team leader, and defensive specialist and Ciara LeClair is “the fastest girl I’ve ever seen,” Withee said.
Sarah Guimond, Madison Roy, Broghan Gagnon, Alexa Petrovic and Maeghan Bernard make up the effective second unit.
Ellsworth coach Andy Pooler’s team has been bolstered by Machias High School transfer Whitney, who has complimented Card.
Card is averaging 14 ppg, and Whitney is chipping in 11 ppg and seven rebounds. Each average three assists.
“They are a real good one-two punch,” said Pooler, whose team also has received aggressive rebounding from Caitlin Bean and solid inside play from Callie Hammer. Samantha Mason has returned after breaking her foot in the fall and is a good all-around player who can produce points. Hannah Sargent is another player who can score.
“This is my deepest team and it could be my best,” said the fifth year coach. “But we need to show we can beat one of the top teams [for our confidence].”