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Two of the best players in the state couldn’t be more different.
Andrea Pardilla is a 6-foot senior forward who was a force in the paint for Class A Old Town. And there’s Tracy Guerrette, a 5-9 senior point guard who can score wherever and whenever she wants and proved it with a state championship for Class D Wisdom of St. Agatha.
But Pardilla and Guerrette do have a few things in common. They can both dominate the flow of a game. They may be teammates at the University of Maine next year.
Pardilla and Guerrette can claim one more similarity: They are both first-team members of the 22nd annual Bangor Daily News All-Maine basketball squad.
This year’s first team also includes Old Orchard Beach senior guard Jen Tulley, who landed a scholarship to play at Boston University; senior guard Morgan McEwen of Westbrook; and sophomore center Julie Veilleux of Cony in Augusta.
Two members of the second team have the distinction of winning state titles this year. Senior guard Niki Dominiczak led her Dirigo of Dixfield squad to the Class C title, while Orono senior guard Susan Gardner helped the Riots to a Class B championship.
Also contributing pivotal efforts to earn second-team selections were senior guards Stacey Gelinas of Biddeford and Amy-Jo Crawford of Hampden Academy. Windham’s Lea Bennett, who earned a scholarship to play at Florida State, rounds out the second team.
Third-team member Brianna Blanchard of Presque Isle, a sophomore forward, is the only other underclassman among the top 15. Other third-teamers are senior center Katie Collins of Sanford, senior guards Tracey Frye and Janet Riese of Cony, and Jody Kenniston of Old Town.
The NEWS All-Maine Team honors the state’s top 15 players, regardless of class, position or region, as selected by the NEWS sports staff with input from coaches, officials, and other basketball observers.
First team
This year’s Miss Basketball and Big East Conference Player of the Year, PARDILLA tallied a whopping 19 double-doubles during the Indians’ 19-2 season while averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks. An established inside player, Pardilla has shown flashes of a solid shooting touch which makes her a dangerous player no matter where she is on the court.
“I think this year she was unstoppable,” said Cony coach Paul Vachon, whose Rams beat Old Town in the Eastern Maine tournament but couldn’t keep Pardilla from scoring 26 points.
“I like her inside and outside game, her range,” Vachon added. “She was the most dominant player we faced. You just can’t stop her.”
Westbrook’s McEWEN, the 1998 Western Maine tourney MVP and a Southern Maine Activities Association All-Star, is making her second first-team appearance. The 5-7 guard-forward battled constant double teams, but averaged 18.4 points to lead Westbrook to a 20-1 record and a Western Maine championship.
McEwen will take her dead-on 3-point shooting to Merrimack College next year. She holds the record for 3-pointers made in the Western Maine tournament (nine) and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, but can play on the inside as well.
“Her penetration and basketball skills are such that she can penetrate, split the defense, and get the shot off while she’s still in midair,” Westbrook coach Ben Palubinskas said.
GUERRETTE also has a fine 3-point touch. But what makes her dangerous is her ability to score, often at will, from anywhere on the floor. She took the Class D Pioneers to their first-ever basketball state championship and broke the school’s scoring record during the Eastern Maine tourament. She finished with 1,549 career points after averaging 23 a game this season.
“She has the ability to stop and shoot or drive to the basket. That’s the biggest thing with her,” Wisdom coach Mim Gagnon said of her scoring and emotional leader. “She has good hands and anticipation.”
A third-teamer in 1997, Guerrette also grabbed 7.5 rebounds, got 3.4 steals, and dished out 6.2 assists per game while running the offense.
Western Maine coaches will be relieved when TULLEY, a Miss Basketball finalist, takes her 21.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.7 assists a game to Boston University next year as the only first-teamer with a Division I basketball scholarship. Tulley’s size and position allow her to work the inside as well as shoot 3-pointers. Her 2,113 career points are the ninth-most in Maine schoolgirl history.
A first-teamer last year, Tulley was also a four-time Western Maine Conference All-Star.
“She’s probably the most talented offensive player in the state,” Dirigo coach Gavin Kane said. “She’s capable of getting a shot off from anywhere on the floor, whether it’s a 3-pointer or going inside and posting up.”
Cony’s VEILLEUX is making her second All-Maine appearance as a sophomore, which means two more years of trouble for the rest of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference. She averaged less than one block per game this season but upped that in the Eastern Maine tournament and state championship games – she had six blocks in the EM title game alone. The mobile 6-foot center also scored 15.6 points and grabbed 8.4 rebounds per contest.
“She’s so athletic and so tough to go up against inside,” said Old Town coach Garry Spencer, whose team ran into Veilleux in the tournament final. “We tried two people on her. [Center Justine Ferland] is quick, but Veilleux was able to get over her for the second shot, and against Pardilla she could face the basket and score.”
Second team
Windham’s BENNETT, 6-2, averaged 16.2 points and 8.6 rebounds (fifth in the SMAA). But Bennett’s most impressive statistic may be her 6.24 blocks per game.
Bennett is one of this year’s most decorated All-Mainers, most recently as the Maine winner of the 1998 Gatorade girls high school player of the year.
Dirigo’s DOMINICZAK led the Cougars with 18.2 points per game to finish her career with 1,076 points. The Miss Basketball finalist also grabbed 8.2 rebounds and tallied 3.5 assists and 3.7 steals.
“Whenever we needed a big play at a key moment, she was able to turn up her game and come through for us,” said Dirigo coach Kane, who calls Dominiczak the most competitive player he has coached in 13 years. “She’s the kind of player that makes everyone around her better.”
GELINAS of Biddeford was a part of what may have been the Tigers’ biggest win ever – an upset of defending Western Maine champion Portland in the quarterfinals of the regional tournament. On the season she scored 18 points per game along with 8.1 rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
“She’s quite a player,” Windham’s Holmes said of the senior guard who will play for St. Joseph’s College in Standish. “She’s the kind of player who makes everyone around her better. She carried Biddeford this year.”
CRAWFORD, the tenacious Hampden Academy point guard who will join McEwen at Merrimack, did a lot of everything for the Broncos. She averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and assists, and six steals as one of the most well-rounded players in Eastern Maine.
“Amy-Jo hurt us bad,” Presque Isle coach Jeff Bearden said. “The hardest thing with her is stopping her penetration. She can get through whatever defense you try. If she can’t get open, she knows just how to pass it off to the open player.”
Orono’s GARDNER averaged 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game, which highlights her role as the Red Riots’ undisputed on-court leader. She was the Eastern Maine Tournament MVP and won gold balls her senior and sophomore years. Gardner will play for West Virginia Wesleyan College.
“Susan knows what she has to do and when she has to do it,” said Spencer, whose Old Town team got its only regular-season loss against the Riots. “She can penetrate if she has to, she can take the `3′ if she has to, and if the other kids are hot, she can get it to them. You can tell she’s played a lot of basketball.”
Third team
Old Town’s KENNISTON scored 17 points per game, but her most impressive contribution came in the assist catagory – Kenniston set the Old Town record for assists in a season (98) by dishing out six per game. The Miss Basketball finalist’s seven rebounds and six steals went a long way, too.
A senior guard, RIESE will forgo basketball for a college field hockey career at UMaine, but Cony hoop fans won’t soon forget her. Riese played on all three of the Rams’ state-title teams and averaged 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists this year.
Presque Isle’s BLANCHARD, 5-11, was a scoring machine for the Wildcats, averaging 23 points. Her quickness led to six steals per game and she was a Big East All-Star this year.
FRYE’S playmaking ability was key for Cony, especially with Veilleux under the basket. Frye averaged eight assists to go along with 11 points and three rebounds.
COLLINS, 6-0, will take her stellar post skills to Division III Babson College. She led the SMAA with 18.7 points and 11.9 rebounds and added two blocks per game.
1998 All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball Team
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr Pos. Ht. PPG RPG
Tracy Guerrette Wisdom Sr. G 5-9 23.0 7.5 Morgan McEwen Westbrook Sr. G 5-7 18.4 4.5 Andrea Pardilla Old Town Sr. F 6-0 20.0 12.0 Jen Tulley Old Orchard Sr. G 6-0 21.8 10.1 Julie Veilleux Cony So. C 6-0 15.6 8.4
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr Pos. Ht. PPG RPG
Lea Bennett Windham Sr. C 6-2 16.2 8.6 Amy-Jo Crawford Hampden Sr. G 5-9 15.0 8.0 Niki Dominiczak Dirigo Sr. F 5-7 18.2 8.2 Susan Gardner Orono Sr. G 5-9 14.0 7.2 Stacey Gelinas Biddeford Sr. G 5-6 18.0 8.1
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr Pos. Ht. PPG RPG
Brianna Blanchard Presque Isle So. F 5-11 23.0 9.0 Katie Collins Sanford Sr. C 6-0 18.7 11.9 Tracey Frye Cony Sr. G 5-7 11.0 3.0 Jody Kenniston Old Town Sr. G 5-9 17.0 7.0 Janet Riese Cony Sr. G 5-7 11.0 3.0
HONORABLE MENTION: Jamie Alexander (Central Aroostook), Rachel Bard (Winslow), Amy Bickford (Erskine Academy), Amanda Bourgoin (Skowhegan), Tricia Carver (Jonesport-Beals), Kim Collier (Southern Aroostook), Heather Ernest (Mt. Blue), Amy Grant (Scarborough), Kelly Grover (Westbrook), Christy Grover (Bucksport), Megan Hamilton (Jay), Tasha Little (Old Orchard Beach), Jessica Mayol (Westbrook), Holly Quint (Hodgdon), Kristi Royer (Lewiston), Amanda Rodgerson (Hampden), Bonnie Smith (Messalonskee), Lora Trenkle (George Stevens), Erika Veilleux (Lawrence)
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