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This year’s All-Maine team is a mixed bag of skills, positions, and classifications. The one constant: versatility.
Need a point guard who can rebound? Try Lanna Martin. How about a 6-footer who can hit 16-footers? Take a look at Danielle Clark. Want a player quick enough for a steal and strong enough to drive through the lane for a runner? That’s Ashley Marble.
Add in Bracey Barker, a 6-foot-1 matchup headache, and Sarah Marshall, whose rare court vision leaves fans shaking their heads, and you have the top five members of the 26th Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball Team.
Calais High senior Martin and Nokomis of Newport junior Clark return to the first team this year. Marshall, a McAuley of Portland junior, was a second-teamer last year, and Woodland senior Marble was on the third team. Barker, a Mount Desert Island junior, is making her first All-Maine appearance.
The second and third teams are also packed with players who can do just about anything, no matter what their size or position.
The second team is made up of Gray-New Gloucester’s Katie Whittier, Megan Myles of Edward Little in Auburn, McAuley’s Justine Pouravelis, Ashley Underwood of Cony in Augusta, and Katie Frost of Calais.
The third-teamers are Tiffany Jones of Skowhegan, Houlton’s Hannah Socoby, Kari Simpson of Wells, Dirigo of Dixfield’s Lyndsay Clark, and Tricia Freeman of McAuley.
The 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.
Freeman, Marshall and Pouravelis are the first All-Maine trio from the same school since 1989. Cony players Marcie Lane, Becky Demos and Meaghan Lane were on that team.
Three players are heading to college with Division I scholarships. Marble will play volleyball for Maine, Whittier is headed to Orono for basketball and Freeman will play for Vermont.
Myles is a third-generation All-Mainer of sorts. Her coach, Val Brown, was on the first team in 1992. Brown’s coach at EL, Bangor’s Cheryl Rich, was a 1982 first-teamer.
First team
BARKER was honored as the Big East Conference Class B Player of the Year and the Eastern Maine Class B tournament MVP.
The 6-1 junior is a point guard first – she averaged five assists and four steals per game – but used her height and athleticism, too. She set a school record for blocks in a season (49) and averaged eight rebounds per game.
“A point guard of that size is something very different from what we see,” said Houlton coach Jerry Tweedie. “She takes away the press because she can see over everyone.”
For Nokomis coach Earl Anderson, Barker’s defense and rebounding are what set her apart.
“Against [MDI] when we couldn’t throw a ball in the ocean, we didn’t have a lot of second chances and they were getting all the offensive rebounds,” he said. “She just has great hands, long arms, good anticipation.”
Danielle CLARK is quick under the basket and willing to knock heads with bigger, stronger players. But she’s a threat because she can hit mid- and long-range jumpers, too.
Clark was the Big East Conference’s Class A Player of the Year and an all-tourney pick.
“She’s as talented as they come for a post player,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Ken Butler said. “Defensively, she’s smart enough to get into position, see [the play] coming and get in the way.”
Skowhegan coach Paul True said the Indians had their fill of Clark during a preseason game in which she scored 44 points, including 24 in the fourth quarter.
“In my opinion she’s the best all-around player,” he said. “She can play face-up and she’s deadly from 17-18 feet in. She’s very unselfish and that’s something that’s gone unnoticed.”
MARBLE was sidelined by a broken wrist for a few games. She was still a Miss Basketball finalist, Downeast Athletic Conference all-star and Class D tourney MVP.
“She has long arms and very, very quick hands,” Narraguagus of Harrington coach Steven Noyes said. “She’s perfect for their halfcourt transition game.”
One of the Dragons’ big strengths has been their ability to bury teams with baskets in bunches, and that’s thanks in large part to Marble. She averaged 7.1 steals and 8.4 assists per game.
Marble is also a smart player, as she displayed in the Class D state final when she suggested to coach Arnie Clark that Woodland go to a box-and-1 to shut down Rangeley’s top player.
“She asked me about it even though we really hadn’t done it all year,” Clark said. “And she did a good job.”
For many voters there isn’t a better player, let alone point guard, in the state than MARSHALL. She is a Southern Maine Activities Association first-teamer and the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year, possibly the first Maine junior to receive the honor.
“She’s just exceptional,” Wells coach Holly Brassard said. “I think every coach dreams of having a player like her on their team. … She sees players that you don’t see until they have the ball. She gets the ball where she wants it to go.”
Marshall doesn’t make many mistakes, either. She had a 6-to-2.7 assists-to-turnover ratio, and she averaged five steals per game. Her shooting percentages were sparkling: 52.2 from the field, 49.4 from 3-point range, 80 from the FT line.
“I think she’s best in transition,” Nokomis’ Anderson said. “She’s a great player in the open floor.”
MARTIN, who was named on 83.6 percent of the ballots and was Maine’s Miss Basketball, wound up her high school career with an 80-8 record, two Class C state titles and three tournament MVP awards, including one this year.
The DAC all-star will play at St. Anselm (N.H.) next year. Martin was like an on-court coach, running the offense, guiding the defense and keeping the Calais team grounded in key situations.
“She’s one of the best defenders I’ve seen,” Noyes said. “She’s the key on their press and she sparked their transition game with steals.”
During her career Martin was one of the Blue Devils’ top rebounders despite her 5-8 stature.
“She does a very good job on weak-side rebounding,” said Woodland’s Clark said. “She’ll see the shot go up and head right for the weak side to the rebound.”
Second team
FROST was deadly from long distances, plus she rebounded, played defense and could go inside with her left or right hand. She shot 75 percent from the free-throw line and averaged 5.1 assists.
The DAC all-star was especially tough in the Class C tournament when she popped in clutch fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
“This year Katie looked for and wanted to take the big shots,” Arnie Clark said. “She made the big shots down the stretch in the tournament.”
Although MYLES sprained her ankle during the season, she was a Miss Basketball finalist and was an SMAA first-teamer. Myles averaged 2.5 spg and 2.1 apg, and was 76 percent from the foul line. She’s heading to Merrimack (Mass.).
“She has great 3-point range, she can slash and drive, and she’s a good ballhandler, so she can break a press,” McAuley coach Liz Rickett said. “She can rebound. She really does everything for them.”
POURAVELIS, an SMAA first-teamer, ended her career with a Class A state title after two straight state-game losses.
Pouravelis is one of the few true All-Maine post players. She got a lot of help from Marshall, but her ability to get open and finish (67 percent from the floor) was her own. She also averaged 4 steals.
“She’s the kind of player who during a game you might ask, where is she?” Cony coach Paul Vachon said. “But after a game you look at the stats and you see all the things she did. That’s because she’s not fancy, and that’s the scariest kind of player to coach against.”
UNDERWOOD is another athletic, versatile player, but she gets the most attention for her 3-point shooting. She was 42 percent from 3-point range and broke a Cony record for 3-pointers in a game (8).
The junior was on the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference first team and averaged 4.1 assists and 3.1 steals. She shot 78.9 percent from the free-throw line.
“Ashley’s a slasher, and with her athletic ability, she’s able to pull up for jump shots that you don’t see a lot of in girls basketball,” Paul True said. “Crunch time, she wants the ball in her hands.”
WHITTIER was named to the Western Maine Conference A-B first team and was the Western Maine Class B tournament MVP.
Whittier’s combination of height and quickness made her a tough matchup. A feared post player, she averaged 3.7 blocks per game and shot 49.8 percent from the field and 79.5 percent from the foul line.
“I know when we played her, we always had two players on her whether she had the ball or not,” Wells’ Brassard said. “She’s very talented.”
Third team
Lyndsay CLARK, a Mountain Valley Conference first-teamer, won her second Class C state title this year. The agile junior averaged 17.1 points per game while playing just 16 minutes per game.
“She shut down Calais inside,” Arnie Clark said of the Class C state game. “She dominated the inside.”
FREEMAN, McAuley’s 5-11 wing player, was an SMAA honorable mention and shot 50 percent from the floor. She also averaged 3 assists and 3 steals.
“I look at how a player can make her team better, and she’s a great passer, very athletic, with a huge upside,” True said.
JONES was the KVAC Class A Player of the Year. She was a 71 percent free-throw shooter and 39 percent from 3-point range.
“I really like her ability to one, shoot the ball, and two, slash to the basket,” said Vachon. “I enjoyed watching her for four years.”
SIMPSON, a WMC first-teamer, is a post player who can go outside – she shot 44.8 percent from 3-point range in the regular season. She led the Warriors with 3.7 apg.
“She just took some teams out of their game,” said Traip of Kittery coach Paul Marquis. “She’s quick and she handles the ball well.”
SOCOBY will play for UMaine-Farmington next year. The 5-5 point guard averaged 5.1 rebounds along with 4.8 assists and 5.5 steals.
“She’s my favorite. Most underrated player in the state of Maine,” Burt Barker said. “… She’s a great rebounder for her size.”
26th All-Maine Schoolgirl Team
First Team
Pos. Name School Yr. Ht. PPG RPG
G Bracey Barker MDI Jr. 6-1 14.0 8.0
F Danielle Clark Nokomis Jr. 6-0 17.2 9.2
G Ashley Marble Woodland Sr. 5-10 19.4 10.2
G-F Lanna Martin Calais Sr. 5-8 17.8 10.4
G Sarah Marshall McAuley Jr. 5-7 19.0 2.5
Second Team
Pos. Name School Yr. Ht. PPG RPG
G Katie Frost Calais Sr. 5-8 18.8 7.2
G-F Megan Myles Edward Little Sr. 5-11 13.9 7.1
F Justine Pouravelis McAuley Sr. 6-0 11.3 6.4
G-F Ashley Underwood Cony Jr. 5-8 15.2 2.0
C Katie Whittier Gray-New Gloucester Sr. 6-2 13.8 9.1
Third Team
Pos. Name School Yr. Ht. PPG RPG
C Lyndsay Clark Dirigo Jr. 6-1 17.1 9.2
G-F Tricia Freeman McAuley Sr. 5-11 12.1 4.5
G Tiffany Jones Skowhegan Sr. 5-9 16.0 6.0
C Kari Simpson Wells Jr. 6-1 18.2 9.5
G Hannah Socoby Houlton Sr. 5-5 15.0 5.1
Honorable Mention: Jauna Andrews (Cony), Sarah Bennis (Greely), Andrea Blanchard (Camden Hills), Kara Borelli (Westbrook), Kristen Bosteels (York), Nicole Corbin (Van Buren), Donna Cowing (Erskine), Ashley Dionne (Noble), Lindsay Frye (Cony), Abby Lesneski (South Portland), Julia Knights (Woodland), Katherine Miller (Bangor), Michelle Murray (Nokomis), Bethany Roderigue (Winslow), Dawn Ross (Gray-New Gloucester), Megan Russell (Penquis), Katie Sibley (Boothbay), Karen Sirois (Cony), Lindsey Welch (Nokomis), Lauren Withey (Camden Hills)
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