It’s a McSweep as East girls defeat West senior stars

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BANGOR – With their East team trailing by four points midway through the fourth period of the McDonald’s East/West Classes A-B senior all-star game, coach Burt Barker of Mount Desert Island said he knew what he and Nokomis coach Earl Anderson had to do.

Sit back and watch.

Barker, Anderson and the fans gathered Saturday at Husson’s Newman Gym were treated to quite a show as six different players scored in the last five minutes and the East earned a 67-63 victory.

In the C-D game, the East rolled to an 87-50 win, its first since 1997.

Barker was confident the East’s talent and poise would come through.

“You want the kids to play on their own here – you don’t want to over-manage it,” Barker said.

Houlton guard Hannah Socoby poured in a game-high 18 points, 10 in the fourth period, to lead the way. Socoby was 4-for-8 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the free throw line.

With the East down 55-52, Kyla Decato of Oxford Hills of South Paris drained a free throw to start the rally. Socoby fed Bethany Rodrigue of Winslow for a basket, but Megan Myles (13 points) of Edward Little of Auburn answered for the West.

Jauna Andrews of Cony of Augusta hit a pair of free throws and a basket to give the East a 58-57 edge, but Myles retaliated with two free throws. Socoby and Andrea Blanchard of Camden Hills buried back-to-back 3-pointers to put the game out of reach.

Socoby said the East was successful in its plan to force the tempo and minimize the West’s height advantage.

“They were taller so we had to penetrate and run the floor,” Socoby said.

The West had six players over 5-feet-11. The East’s only player over 5-9 was Andrews, a 6-0 forward. The other seven East players who suited up were guards.

Each team would normally suit up 10 players, but Donna Cowing of Erskine of South China and Lauren Withey of Camden Hills could not play for the East because both are recovering from ACL injuries.

Cony guard Lindsay Frye helped spark the East throughout the game, tossing in 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc.

Frye thoroughly enjoyed herself.

“It’s exciting to play with so many talented people,” Frye said.

And Frye provided one of the game’s most exciting moments when she buried a shot from halfcourt to end the first quarter.

“That was just lucky,” she grinned.

Blanchard and Skowhegan’s Tiffany Jones added nine points apiece and Andrews hauled down nine rebounds.

Patricia Freeman of Catherine McAuley of Portland paced the West with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Sarah Bennis from Greely of Cumberland added 14 points.

In the C-D game, unselfishness was the key to the East’s dominance.

Just how unselfish was the crew coached by Calais’ Bob McShane and Woodland’s Arnie Clark? The East had five players with three assists or more, and racked up 24 for the game.

The East’s fast-breaking style allowed Van Buren’s Nicole Corbin (six), Calais’ Katie Frost (four), Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook’s Kristi Brooker (four) and Lee’s Deidra Ham (three) to get easy baskets for their teammates.

And Calais’ Lanna Martin, Miss Maine Basketball, was so busy looking out for others that she only took two shots. She made them both – and handed out four assists.

Frost also had 17 points (6-for-9 from the floor) and five steals and Madawaska’s Meghan Marshall, a 6-2 center, added 17 points (8-for-11 from the floor) and eight rebounds. Ashley Marble of Woodland and Ham put in 15 and 10, respectively.

Woodland’s Julia Knights grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the East to a 41-25 edge off the glass.

Frost said the East worked well together because they are used to each other’s styles from playing together in AAU or against each other during the regular season.

“We know each other and a lot of us play AAU together. … You learn more about each other when you play with and against each other so much,” Frost said.

Marshall agreed.

“We’re friends. … We talk on the phone all the time or [communicate] on the Internet,” Marshall said.

Marble said they know how to have fun together even when they’re not on the court.

“We had a good night last night, too. We goofed off all night at the [awards] banquet [Friday],” Marble laughed.

McShane said the team adjusted well to the turmoil leading up to the game, in which two players on the roster – Morgan Drew of Calais and Sarah Snider of Narraguagus of Harrington – withdrew after they were arrested in connection with a burglary in Princeton.

They were replaced by Marble and Knights, who had been left off the original ballot because Woodland missed the deadline for nominating players.

“With all the distractions, the kids handled it well. They’re a great bunch, and I’ve admired watching all of them play the last four years. … This is probably the most fun group I’ve coached [in an all-star game],” said McShane, who was coaching in his fifth all-star game.

Brittany Rauscher led the West with 13 points.

EAST C-D GIRLS 87, WEST 50

East All-Stars West All-Stars

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ham 5 8 0 1 10 Newton 1 7 0 3

Corbin 1 3 1 2 3 Ja. Manzer 1 2

Brooker 2 6 1 1 5 Rauscher 5 13

Martin 2 2 0 0 4 Ji. Manzer 3 13 1 2 9

Frost 6 9 3 4 17 K. Leclerc 3 7

Marble 6 10 1 3 15 J. Leclerc 2 5

Allen 3 8 0 0 7 Brennan 2 8 4

Russell 2 9 1 2 5 Gilbert 1 4 3

Knights 1 9 2 5 4 Day 2 3 4

Marshall 8 11 1 1 17

Totals 36 75 10 19 87 Totals 20 66 50

East 24 45 68 87

West 7 21 35 50

3-pt. goals: East (5-11): Corbin 0-1, Frost 2-4, Marble 2-4, Allen 1-2; West (7-21): Newton 1-3, Ja. Manzer 0-2, Rauscher 2-4, Ji. Manzer 2-4, K. Leclerc 0-2, J. Leclerc 1-4, Gilbert 1-2

EAST A-B GIRLS 67, WEST 63

East All-Stars West All-Stars

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Flaherty 2 5 0 0 4 Forbes 0 4 0

Frye 5 7 1 3 14 Erickson 1 3 4

Socoby 4 8 9 11 18 Rapisardi 1 2

Rodrigue 2 7 0 0 4 Bosteels 2 4

Blanchard 3 10 1 2 9 Pouravelis 2 4

Jones 4 9 0 1 9 Bennis 6 10 14

Decato 1 5 1 2 3 Littlefield 1 4

Andrews 2 3 2 2 6 Myles 5 10 13

Freeman 7 13 2 16

Whittier 0 4 2

Totals 23 54 14 21 67 Totals 25 55 12 16 63

East 20 35 46 67

West 15 29 47 63

3-pt. goals: East (7-15): Frye 3-3, Socoby 1-2, Blanchard 2-2, Jones 1-4, Decato 0-1, Rodrigue 0-3; West (1-6): Myles 1-4, Bosteels 0-1, Bennis 0-1