Gray-New Gloucester boasts tall, fast squad

You’d think the most important thing MDI girls basketball coach Burt Barker wanted to do Feb. 22 was watch Gray-New Gloucester in the Western Maine Class B final at the Augusta Civic Center.

But he wasn’t there at all. He didn’t see the need for it.

Barker did get a tape of the Patriots’ regional championship game against Wells, so he planned to break that down for the state championship matchup featuring the Trojans and the Patriots at 7:40 p.m. Friday at the Bangor Auditorium.

And the MDI squad is already very familiar with Gray-NG. The two teams played in last year’s Class B state game, with the Trojans winning the title. The Patriots lost just one senior from last year’s team, which means not much has changed.

“I have the tape,” Barker said after the Trojans topped Houlton for the Eastern Maine championship. “And I know what they’re going to do pretty much.”

The Patriots are blessed with players who are both tall and quick, including 6-foot-2 University of Maine-bound center Katie Whittier. She scored 16 points in the Western Maine game (MDI held her to eight points last year, although she went into the state game with a sprained ankle).

“There’s no team that I’ve seen like that,” Barker said. “They’re a big, running team, they play eight or nine kids. They play good man defense.”

Six-foot sophomore Josalee Danieli, who also started in last year’s game against MDI, put in 10 points against Wells. Point guard Dawn Ross, a 5-5 sophomore, came off the bench for last year’s state game but scored 15 points in the Western Maine championship.

Whittier’s sophomore sister Christine Whittier is 5-10 and has seen increased playing time this year. There’s also 6-foot Amy Carlson.

“They’re going to run the ball, have their big kids give it up on the sideline and give-and-go to the hoop and they’re going to sag on man-to-man to clog up the middle,” Barker said. “We’ll have our hands full.”

Gray-NG’s lone graduation loss was 6-foot guard-forward Sarah DeLuca.

One factor Barker thinks could work in MDI’s favor is the venue. The Bangor Auditorium crowd noise and big bands – MDI has one of the biggest bands around, while last year Gray-New Gloucester brought the school’s small jazz band, which had rarely played at basketball games – is sometimes credited for bothering teams who are used to playing in the quieter Augusta Civic Center.

“I’m sure it would drive them crazy,” he said. “They’d dribble off the floor, it’d bounce out of bounds,

they’d be all bummed out.”

Barker’s daughter Bracey, who at 6-1 is one of the few MDI players who can match up with the taller Patriots, said the Trojans are eager for a rematch with Gray-NG.

“I’m excited to play them again,” she said. “We’ve watched some of their games and I think we have a pretty good chance.”