AUGUSTA, Maine — Keenan Hendricks faces a decision every time he brings the ball up the court.
Should the Oceanside High School senior point guard continue dribbling and invariably make his own way to the rim? Or, should he draw the defense to him and pass the ball out to an array of accurate 3-point shooters?
Both options worked to near perfection during the recent Class A North tournament at the Augusta Civic Center as Hendricks directed an Oceanside offense that not only set a divisional postseason record with 29 3-point goals in three games, but it went on to win the consolidated school from Rockland and Thomaston its first regional title in boys basketball.
“I try to read the defenders as much as possible and look at the mismatches on the court,” said Hendricks, winner of the William C. Warner Most Valuable Player Award and a member of the Bangor Daily News Class A North all-tournament team.
“If we’ve got a hot shooter, I drive to their side, and if his guy comes in to play help-side, I kick it out, and if he doesn’t come, I go all the way [to the basket],” he said.
Senior forward Andrew Fleming of Oxford Hills, who averaged 35 points in two tournament games for the third-ranked Vikings of South Paris, was named winner of the Warner Award for Class AA North boys.
The Warner Award, established in 1994 in memory of a former BDN sports editor and reporter, and Classes AA and A North region all-tournament teams were selected by BDN staff in attendance during those events.
Hendricks made seven 3-pointers during Oceanside’s regional tournament run and assisted on many more — of his eight assists during the Mariners’ 59-45 victory over Medomak Valley of Waldoboro in the regional final, seven led directly to 3-pointers by his teammates.
“Keenan’s been clutch for us all year,” said Oceanside coach Matt Breen of the 6-foot-1 Hendricks, who also averaged 16.3 points in three tournament games. “He doesn’t get recognized for the things he does all the time, and I feel like he’s underappreciated, but everything we do, we basically play off Keenan.”
Hendricks is joined on the BDN Class A North all-tournament team by Oceanside teammate Nick Mazurek, Nicholas DePatsy and Cameron Allaire of Medomak Valley and Nick Gilpin of Hampden Academy.
Mazurek, a 6-foot-3 senior center, averaged 11.7 points per game during the tournament while providing Oceanside strong inside play on offense and defense as well as 3-point shooting range.
DePatsy, a 6-3 senior forward, averaged 13 points per game while leading third-seeded Medomak Valley to its third regional final in his four varsity seasons. Last year’s Eastern Maine Class B tournament MVP scored 15 points — 14 in the second half — when the 2013 and 2015 Class B regional champs surged past-second ranked Brewer in the semifinals.
Allaire, a 6-6 junior center, provided a strong low-post presence for the Panthers, averaging 13.3 points and four blocked shots per tournament contest. He had a high of 21 points during a quarterfinal win over No. 6 Lawrence of Fairfield.
Gilpin, the 2015 Eastern A tourney MVP, earned all-tournament honors for the fourth straight season. The 6-3 senior guard scored a Class A North tourney-best 34 points as top-ranked and undefeated Hampden defeated Skowhegan in the quarterfinals, then nearly brought the Broncos back against Oceanside in the semifinals despite being at less than 100 percent because of a lower back injury suffered early in the contest that twice forced him to the sidelines.
Fleming, a 6-6 senior forward, opened the inaugural Class AA North tournament with a 42-point eruption for third-ranked Oxford Hills in its quarterfinal win over No. 6 Bangor, then followed with 28 points in a last-minute semifinal loss to No. 2 Deering of Portland.
The University of Maine-bound Fleming, also a Class A all-tourney choice in 2014 for the Vikings, shot 64 percent from the field (27 of 42) during the two games while also averaging 11 rebounds per outing for coach Scott Graffam’s club.
Fleming is joined on the BDN Class AA North all-tourney team by brothers Amir and Terion Moss and Griffin Foley, all of regional champion Portland, and Malik White of Deering of Portland.
Amir Moss, a 6-2 senior, and Terion Moss, a 5-10 sophomore, provided the guard play that propelled top-ranked Portland to its third straight regional title, this time in dominant fashion as coach Joe Russo’s Bulldogs won their two tourney games by an average of 29 points.
Amir Moss had 19 points and 10 rebounds against Deering in the regional final, and Terion Moss contributed 18 points and eight assists. Amir Moss averaged 16.5 points in two tournament wins, and Terion Moss averaged 18 points per game.
Foley, a 6-2 sophomore forward, contributed 12.5 points per game to the balanced Portland offense.
White, a 5-9 senior guard, scored 23 points in Deering’s come-from-behind 73-67 semifinal win over Oxford Hills, then matched the team high with eight points in the final against Portland.
