BANGOR, Maine — Former Mount Desert Island High School basketball standout Kelsey Shaw had played 14 minutes for Stonehill College against the University of Maine in an exhibition game at the Cross Insurance Center on Sunday afternoon.
The freshman was sitting on the bench as the game approached its final two minutes.
When UMaine coach Richard Barron inserted Shaw’s former MDI teammate, Sierra Tapley, into the game, Stonehill coach Trisha Brown put Shaw back into the game.
“It was pretty funny. Coach just told me, ‘You know who you’re guarding,” grinned Shaw, who guarded Tapley.
“That was so awesome of (Brown) to do that,” said Shaw, who, like Tapley, was making her college debut. “It was fun.”
“I thought it would be a good photo op,” Brown smiled.
“I’m so happy that I got to see her … also to get back playing on this floor that I played on in high school,” Tapley said. “I’m so grateful.”
She said guarding each other was fun.
“It was just like old times,” Tapley said.
Tapley had her senior year cut short because of a knee injury that required surgery suffered during a game against Ellsworth on Jan. 5.
“The knee is doing better. It’s always doing better every day,” Tapley said.
Shaw said making her collegiate debut with Tapley was special.
“It was awesome. To not only have your first exhibition game in Maine but to play against one of my former teammates is just a really great way to start the year,” Shaw said.
Tapley and Shaw helped lead Mount Desert Island to the Class B North championship in 2014. The Trojans went undefeated the following year until being upset by No. 9 Gardiner in the Class B North quarterfinals.
MDI went 17-1 during the regular season last year, but the Trojans, without Tapley, got upset again in the quarterfinals by Hermon.
Shaw was a second-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball selection last season. She averaged 17 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Tapley was a third-team pick in 2016, when she averaged 16.3 points, 4 assists, 3.5 steals and 3 rebounds. Shaw was averaging 15 points per game last season when she got hurt.
It is uncertain how much playing time Tapley and former Calais standout Maddy McVicar will receive this season, but it appears Shaw could see some significant minutes coming off the bench for the Division II school.
“I’m very happy with where she is right now,” said Brown, who is playing the 5-foot-10 Shaw at guard. “She brings those intangibles. … She makes hustle plays, she’s tough and she’s strong.
“She processes things well. It’s just a matter of her getting more comfortable with our triangle offense,” Brown added.
Stonehill senior guard and captain Kelly Martin said Shaw is a “real hard worker. She wants to be on the floor.
“She’s going to make a difference for us,” she added.