Year in Review Maine
The champions have been crowned, awards have been given out, and all-star games played…and with that the high school basketball season in the state of Maine is now officially at an end.
Portland High School was the big winner, taking the Class A championship and finishing with a perfect 22-0 record. They saved their best performance for last, defeating a very talented Hampden Academy team in the final that came into the game riding a 43 game winning streak that stretched out along two different seasons.
The state champions relied on a “big three” all season long and the finals were no exception. Justin Zukowski and Jayvon Pitts-Young formed a dynamic duo in the backcourt while Matt Talbot anchored the interior. All three finished in double figures in the championship game with Talbot netting 16, Pitts-Young 12, and Zukowski 11 en route to a 54-40 win.
Portland wasn’t the only team to cap a perfect season with a state championship. Houlton accomplished the same feat in Class C, but needed an extra period to do it as they survived Waynflete 58-56 in an overtime victory in the state championship.
Junior sensation Kyle Bouchard punctuated a huge season with another stellar performance including the game winning free-throws to break a 56-56 tie with 1.3 seconds left on the clock in overtime. Bouchard finished with 26 points along with 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
In Class D, Hodgdon defeated Valley 51-46. Hodgdon held a 19 point lead late in the third quarter and were able to survive a huge run from Valley down the stretch of the last ten minutes of the game. Chris Hudson led the champions with 21 points, 19 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
While Portland, Houlton, and Hodgdon were all crowned during a championship Saturday at Augusta Civic Center, the Class B championship was actually decided a night earlier as Old Town stopped Poland 64-39. Junior point guard Eric Hoogterp led the way with 26 points.
A week after the champions were crowned, the top players in the state converged on Husson University in Bangor for the annual Maine McDonald’s All-Star weekend.
The festivities began on Friday night when Bonny Eagle senior guard Dustin Cole was named “Mr. Basketball.”
The award was a fitting culmination for a player who essentially rewrote the record books over the last four years, breaking both school and conference records with 1812 career points, leading the SMAA in scoring in each of the last two seasons and assists in each of the last three. He has also been the SMAA player of the year as both a junior and a senior and Bonny Eagle’s captain since his sophomore season [according to the Bangor Daily News].
Hampden Academy senior forwards Isaiah Bess and Zach Gilpin were the other finalists while Gilpin was also the recipient of the Maine McDonald’s Spirit of the Game Award. Portland’s Zukowski and Pitts-Young, Greely’s Mike McDevitt, Mt. Desert Island’s Jon Phelps, Oceanside’s Isaiah Stone-Patterson, Penquis Valley’s Trevor Lyford, Wells’ Jake Moody, and Waynflete’s Serge Nyirikamba were also semi-finalists.
The all-star festivities took place on Saturday with the state’s top seniors from the east taking on the top players from the west:
A/B East: Bess & Gilpin, Hampden Academy; Stone-Patterson, Oceanside; Andrew Cartwright, Nokomis; Jordon Holmes, Messalonskee; Xavier Lewis, Bangor; Trevor Lovely, Winslow; Colin Morse, Camden Hills; Jonathan Phelps, Mount Desert Island; Tyler Thayer, Hermon.
A/B West: Cole, Bonny Eagle; McDevitt, Greely; Pitts-Young, Talbott, & Zukowski, Portland; Evyn Nolette, Sanford; Moody, Wells; David Murphy, Yarmouth; Caleb Martin, Poland; Nick Burton, Falmouth.
C/D East: Lyford, Penquis Valley; Jacob Rioux, Van Buren; Hunter Turner, Easton; Cordell Hold, Calais; Nick Guiod, Houlton; Trevor Fogarty, Dexter; Cherif Fall, Lee; Mark Clossey, Shead; Seth Brown, Stearns; Cole Beal, Jonesport-Beal.
C/D West: Nyirikamba, Waynflete; Dylan Belanger, Valley; Tucker Brannon, Lisbon; Matt Dyer, St. Dominic; Joey Gildard, Old Orchard Beach; Andrew Hallinan, Boothbay; Marcques Houston, Monmouth; Dylan Kidder, Dirigo; Howard Stone, Greenville.