Ray, Barker gain top state awards Seniors are Mr., Miss Basketball

BANGOR – The awards continue to come in for Bangor’s Zak Ray and Mount Desert Island’s Bracey Barker.

Friday night at Husson College, Ray and Barker were named Mr. and Miss Maine Basketball. Both had been named most valuable players of their prospective Eastern Maine tournaments.

The award goes to the top male and female senior basketball players in the state. Ray and Barker were selected from a group of finalists by a panel of coaches, former coaches, former players, and sportswriters. The announcement was made at the McDonald’s East-West Senior All-Star Games award banquet.

Ray was the catalyst behind an undersized Bangor team that won the Class A boys state championship. The 5-foot-10 senior scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, handed out four assists and made four steals in the Rams’ 48-43 overtime win over Cheverus of Portland in the state game.

Ray led the Rams to a 21-1 season. He led the Big East Conference in steals with 3.61 per game and assists with 5.28. He also was the conference’s best free throw shooter, shooting at an 88 percent clip.

But Ray’s numbers were almost insignificant when compared to his leadership. When a game was on the line, Ray could be counted on creating points for his team or making a big defensive play.

Ray was selected over fellow finalists Jeff Holmes of Cheverus and Ryan McLellan of Nokomis of Newport. McLellan and Ray are good friends.

“It’s tough to be in competition with someone who’s such a great friend to me. I know he’s happy I won it and I would have been just as happy as I am if he’d won,” Ray said. “My team was awesome this year and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. I’m just reaping the awards the team helped me get.”

Barker led MDI to its third straight state Class B championship. She averaged 21.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

The 6-1 senior scored 21 points in MDI’s win over Greely of Cumberland Center for the state championship. She also pulled down nine rebounds and had seven blocks and four assists.

Barker will attend the University of Maine on a basketball scholarship.

Barker was chosen from a field of finalists that included Nokomis of Newport’s Danielle Clark, Sarah Marshall of McAuley of Portland, and Ashley Underwood of Cony in Augusta, all of whom received Division I scholarships.

“I’m totally shocked. I didn’t even have a speech ready. I had to talk off the top of my head,” Barker said. “It’s quite an honor just to be considered in the caliber of those girls.”

Friday’s dinner also honored the 23rd Maine McDonald’s East-West Senior All-Star Game participants as well as the all-academic teams and the foul shooting champions.

Natalie Keene of Dirigo in Dixfield and Nokomis’ Jody Mullis were announced as winners of $1,000 academic scholarships.

The all-star games will be played today at Husson’s Newman Gymnasium. The foul shooting contest will start at 9 a.m. The girls Classes C-D game will follow at 10 a.m. Next up is the boys C-D game at 11:25. The girls A-B game is scheduled for a 12:50 p.m. tipoff and will be followed by the A-B boys game at 2:15 p.m.