There are four prime contenders in girls Class A North and that list includes defending champ Hampden Academy, runnerup Camden Hills of Rockport, Edward Little of Auburn and defending state champion Mt. Ararat of Topsham. Mt. Ararat was in Class A South a year ago and won the state championship.
But Hampden Academy coach Nick Winchester said Camden Hills is the team to beat.
“They have depth, they’re good defensively, they have an elite guard in Thea Laukka, they have good size and they are relentless,” said Winchester, whose Broncos beat Camden Hills in double overtime in the A North final a year ago.
“They pose more problems than anybody else,” Winchester added.
Junior Laukka was a Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl honorable mention as a sophomore last year and leads Class A North in steals with over five per game and is among the top three scorers, averaging close to 15 points per game.
Senior guards Leah Jones, Maddie Cronkite and Maren Johnson have also been productive scorers and defenders for the Windjammers, and sophomore forward Gabby Martin supplies an inside presence who can score and rebound. Cronkite and Martin were both shooting in the 50-55 percent range from the floor entering the final handful of regular season contests.
Samantha Bragg’s Windjammers generate a lot of easy transition baskets off their swarming full-court press and they usually use at least nine players.
“Mt. Ararat and Camden Hills play a similar style. Mt. Ararat is also deep and they can shoot it,” Winchester said.
Mt. Ararat and Camden Hills were KVAC Class A North’s top two defensive teams, respectively, with each allowing fewer than 33 points per contest.
Like Camden Hills, Mt. Ararat is also senior-laden including 6-foot-1 BDN All-Maine second team selection Julianna Allen, guard Jenna Jensen and 5-9 forward Kayleigh Wagg, three of the four Eagles averaging double-digit points as of late January along with sophomore 3-point specialist Cali LeClair.
Jensen was averaging over four assists and close to four steals.
Mt. Ararat earned a 59-47 road win over Camden Hills in their only regular season meeting.
Hampden Academy has been paced by 6-foot-4 center Grace LaBree and had five players averaging at least seven points per game in LaBree and Kate Adams, All-Maine honorable mention Aubrey Shaw, Eve Wiles and Naia Studley.
Hampden Academy had surrendered just 33 ppg through 10 games but Winchester said he needs his team to shoot better to complement its defense.
Youthful Edward Little has a top-notch point guard in junior Hope Fontaine and two consistent double-figure scorers in sophomore Elizabeth Galway and Charlotte Ranger. Galway was also hauling down nearly 10 rebounds per game through January.
Bangor, with its full-court press and athleticism, could pull off an upset as long as it has last year’s All-Maine honorable mention Avery Clark in the lineup. Clark recently returned for the Rams after missing a handful of games due to injury.