The Highview Christian Academy girls basketball team will be playing in its first-ever tournament game when it takes on Temple Academy of Waterville in a Class D South quarterfinal at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Knights finished 12-6 in their 21st year as a girls basketball program and earned the fifth seed after going 3-27 the previous two seasons. Fourth seed Temple Academy is also 12-6 including a pair of victories over Highview Christian.
Charleston-based Highview Christian had never posted a record better than 8-9.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Highview Christian head coach and athletic director Mike Rowe.
“I’ve been thinking about the tournament ever since the last regular season game … even before that,” said sophomore forward Cassidy Lessner, one of three transfers from Central High of Corinth.
“We’re all so pumped,” said junior forward-guard Kelsea McDonald, noting that it is special to be the first Highview Christian team to play in the tournament.
The journey to success began with a productive summer at the Husson University basketball camp in Bangor, according to Rowe.
“We competed against pretty good teams,” he said. “We also played in a tournament in Madison.”
Rowe and McDonald said the foundation for winning was also built last spring when the Knights went 7-6 in softball and won a play-in game over Fort Fairfield.
“That changed the whole attitude of the girls,” said Rowe.
McDonald’s father, Matt, was the first-year head coach of the Knights.
“My dad gave us the know-how and was very supportive. He believed in us from the start and it has rolled into basketball,” said McDonald, one of five softball players on the basketball team.
McDonald and Lessner said the team has a tight bond which has been beneficial to their development.
“We have stayed together as a unit. Every girl has something to bring to the table,” said McDonald, who is the team’s No. 2 scorer (11 points per game) and top rebounder (11 rpg).
“We all get along. It’s nice to be on a team that’s like a family,” Lessner said.
The 5-foot-7 Lessner has been a welcome addition to the roster. She is the team’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, averaging more than 12 points and nine rebounds per game.
One of the other Central transfers is the point guard, sophomore Cassidy Burns, who is averaging a team-high five assists per game.
“She’s a very good ball-handler,” Rowe said.
Junior guard Kelsi Upham, the third Central transfer, is a valuable reserve, he added.
“The girls from Central have helped us so much,” said McDonald, who is from Old Town.
McDonald’s sophomore sister, Megan, is the team’s third leading scorer, averaging more than nine points per game. The speedy Megan McDonald is also averaging five steals per game and is one of the team’s top defenders.
Five-foot-11 center Brianna Viera, one of just two seniors on the team, has been averaging 5.5 rebounds and two blocks over the last eight games. The other senior is forward Rachel Pomerleau, one of the team’s key leaders.
Improved sophomore guard Jenna Kepple and freshman forward Chloe Eckstein have been resourceful contributors off the bench and junior Charis Morin is a vocal leader.
“We’ve very athletic and that is something that has changed over the past two to three years,” said Rowe. “And we’re getting a lot more girls to come in.”