The departure of Miss Maine Basketball and two-time Gatorade Player of the Year Nia Irving and 3-point shooting guard Dominique Lewis, who both scored over 1,000 career points at Lawrence High School of Fairfield, means the Bulldogs’ domination of Class A North basketball has likely come to an end.
That doesn’t mean that Lawrence, which has gone 42-2 the past two seasons and claimed two regional titles and one state championship, won’t be in the mix for yet another crown.
Legendary head coach John Donato enters his 40th year of coaching with 535 career wins, 11 regional championships and five state titles. Lawrence is his fifth school.
It does mean that teams like Nokomis High of Newport, Hampden Academy and Brewer, which have a ton of seasoned returnees, will have a chance to make significant strides in a hotly contested class and perhaps contend for the title.
Messalonskee of Oakland, which reached the regional final and returns Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl third-team selection Sophie Holmes, is considered the favorite by the league’s coaches. But the gap between the Eagles and the rest of the league won’t be as sizeable as it was with Lawrence a year ago.
“Messalonskee is one of the favorites but it won’t be like it was with Nia and Lewis dominating every game for Lawrence,” said Hampden Academy coach Tim Scott. “It’s a little more open this year. There are a lot of good teams and a lot of good players.”
Messalonskee coach Keith Derosby agreed.
“There’s so much parity in our league. I don’t think there is going to be an easy night for anyone,” said Derosby.
Hampden returns four starters off last year’s 11-9 team that reached the regional semifinals, where it lost to Lawrence. Seven of the nine losses came from Lawrence (3), Messalonskee (2) and Class AA Bangor (2).
“We’ve been getting better every year,” said Scott. “We won a preliminary game two years ago and a quarterfinal game last year. We’re moving in the right direction. We should be in the mix this year.
“We have size, we have kids who can shoot the ball and handle it. We’re older and stronger,” he added.
Junior guard Marissa Gilpin and junior guard-forward Brooklynn Scott, the coach’s daughter, were the leading scorers a year ago, averaging eight points per game.
Sophomore Bailey Donovan, a 6-foot-3 center, was the top rebounder (8 rpg) and has become even more imposing as an inside presence and shot-blocker while developing an outside shot.
“She is a force at times,” said Scott.
Junior Sophia Narofsky (5-10) will complement Donovan inside and juniors Braylee Wildman, Cassidy Burke and Peyton Smith will play important roles. Wildman is a forward, while Burke and Smith are guards.
Scott said he has some newcomers who will supply valuable depth.
Brewer coach Chris Horr’s Witches went from one win two years ago to 8-11 last season.
“We should be able to take that next step and win three or four more games this year,” thanks to increased experience, he said.
“We had some tough [close] losses last year and hopefully we’ve grown and learned from them and can prevail [in those types of games] this year,” said Horr.
The Witches are again undersized but Horr said they will try to compensate by playing aggressive, pressing defense and boxing out under the glass.
Senior forward Courtney Pearson (10 ppg along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) headlines the list of veterans along with Horr’s daughter Ellie, a junior point guard who averaged five points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Junior guards Emily Lord (6 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, 2 spg) and Cassidy Smith (7 ppg, 5 rpg) are capable of scoring in double figures on a regular basis. Smith had 37 3-pointers last year.
Junior guard Haley Robertson (4 ppg, 2 apg, 2 spg) made 19 3-pointers and and 5-9 sophomore Rebecca Gideon netted 5 ppg. Junior forward Sierra Strang has a great basketball IQ and a nose for the ball, said Horr.
Nokomis coach Michelle Paradis returns her top seven players from a 13-6 team and anticipates “one of the most exciting seasons we’ve ever had. The girls have been coming to me with such great emotion and feelings about this season.”
Guards Austin Taylor, a senior, and Chelsea Crockett, a junior, were the top two scorers a year ago at around 10 ppg and Crockett also averaged four assists and is one of the top defenders.
Senior Olivia Brown is a versatile player who can play outside or in the post and can score; 5-11 center Gabby Lord is an aggressive rebounder who can also put points on the board; senior guard Sidney Moore is a 3-point shooter; 5-6 forward Maci Leali is a strong inside player; junior Hanna Meservey is a relentless defender and 5-10 Chloe Gustin will provide a post presence and rebounds.
Messalonskee, 17-4 a year ago, will be led by the terrific trio of 5-8 guard Holmes (20.8 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots), 5-10 junior guard Alyssa Turner (11 ppg, 5 apg) and 5-10 senior forward center McKenna Brodeur (13 ppg, 8 rpg).
Holmes and Brodeur were all-tourney picks last year.
“We need to be more consistent defensively,” said Derosby, who also expects important contributions from energetic guard Lydia Dexter, 5-10 Katie Seekins and 6-1 freshman Gabrielle Wener.
Donato pointed out that despite losing Irving and Lewis, he has three starters back and is excited about Lawrence’s season.
“It should be fun. We’re going to be more of a penetration-pressure team because we won’t have the size to compete with a lot of teams,” he said.
The Bulldogs have three players who averaged 10 points per game in senior guard Morgan Boudreau, junior guard Camryn Caldwell and junior forward Hunter Mercier.
Coach Mike Gray’s Gardiner Tigers went 15-5 a year ago and return the exceptional duo of talented, all-tourney senior guard Lauren Chadwick (14 ppg, 6 apg) and All-Maine honorable mention senior forward Mary Toman (12 ppg, 12 rpg).
Waterville turned in a 9-11 record and has one of the best all-around players in Class A North in high-scoring Jordan Jabar.
Youthful Skowhegan was 7-13 including a preliminary game win over Brewer and Annie Cooke, Sydney Ames, Sydney Reed and Alyssa Everett received a lot of playing time as freshmen and should benefit significantly.
Oceanside of Rockland/Thomaston (8-11), Erskine Academy of South China (7-11), Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (7-11), Camden Hills of Rockport (5-13) and Cony of Augusta (2-16) finished in the last five spots and will look to improve.