Biche, Knowles earn honors

College players making news include Waterville’s Deb Biche, Tammy Knowles of Unity and Kristin Davis of Presque Isle.

Biche, a junior midfielder for the Plymouth (N.H.) State College women’s soccer team, has been named the Little East Conference Player of the Year. Knowles, a senior at the University of Southern Maine, has been named to the LEC All-Conference Team.

The LEC is made up of Plymouth, Southeastern Massachusetts, Eastern Connecticut and USM.

Biche, a three-year letterwinner, was one of six Plymouth State players named to the 12-member squad. First-year Plymouth State coach Nancy Feldman and Southeastern Massachusetts coach Ray Cabral shared Coach of the Year honors.

After two opening losses to national contenders, Feldman directed Plymouth State to 13 straight regular-season wins and a berth in the NCAA New England regional tournament. Plymouth, 13-3, lost to Ithaca in the first round of the playoffs.

Biche and Knowles each received Player of the Week honors and finished among the statistical leaders at season’s end. Of the top 15 scorers with a minimum of 10 points, Knowles was fourth with 26 total points in 15 games and Biche seventh with 17 total points in 15 games.

Knowles was third of 12 with 5 or more goals, scoring 11 in 15 games and Biche sixth with 7 goals in 15 games.

In assists, where 20 or more players had at least 3, Knowles finished in a four-way tie for sixth with 4 in 15 games, and Biche tied with 10 others (including USM’s Jill Irish) for 10th with 3 goals in 15 contests.

Nicole Ouellette of USM was the conference’s top goalkeeper, recording 82 saves in nine games. She was fourth in goals-against average (3.63), allowing 28 in nine games.

Mention the name Kristin Davis and you can take your pick of memorable moments in Maine basketball.

As a 12-year-old, Davis won the 1985 Pepsi Hot Shot 9-12 Girls National Championship and her name is enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Davis was the individual who hit THE SHOT, a 27-footer for three that sent last year’s Eastern Maine Class A championship between Presque Isle and Cony of Augusta into overtime.

And Davis was the individual who held All-Mainer Meaghan Lane scoreless in that game’s final 22 minutes while leading her team to a 50-46 upset over the defending champion. Presque Isle then beat Portland for the state championship.

Today, Davis is starting a new career with the same old twist.

A freshman at Salem (Mass.) State College, Davis did it again during the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tourney Nov. 17-18. The rookie reserve hit a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left to tie the championship and send it into overtime. Then, with Davis playing the overtime, Salem beat host Eastern Connecticut 80-73.

Davis is the only underclassman on a team of juniors and seniors coached by Tim Shea. Salem won the NCAA Division III national championship in 1986 and, percentage-wise in the past eight years, is the winningest Division III team in the country at 83 percent.

Shea said he doesn’t recruit out of state so, normally, students don’t come into the program unless “there is some tie-in to the young lady.” In this case, Shea had taught with a friend of the Davis family.

“She walked into the office one day out of the blue,” he said, “and I watched a videotape. I love the way she plays the game all around. There is little doubt she will play for us. She’s already getting 10-12 minutes a game with eight veterans in front of her.”

On a team with four guards, Davis is the best shooter, Shea said, but she’s coming off the bench to augment its defense and ballhanding.

My sincere apologies to the Presque Isle Wildcat girls basketball team, the 1990 Eastern Maine Class A champion.

Out of habit, perhaps, in Saturday’s article on the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A teams, I said Cony of Augusta was the defending EM-A champ. Everyone knows that No. 5 Presque Isle upset top-seeded Cony 50-46 in overtime to win the championship last March.