EM A girls’ squads target perennial champs Cony Rams as the team to beat this year

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The biggest threat to the Cony girls basketball team this year could be themselves.

The Rams of Augusta, who won the program’s ninth Eastern Maine Class A title last season, are injured. That’s thrown the starting lineup into a bit of disarray.

Luckily, though, Cony’s injuries shouldn’t worry fans too much. All five Ram starters are back, even if one is still on the mend. And the team looks better than ever.

As they have in recent years, the Skowhegan girls are among a host of Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams looking to knock Cony from its perch. Meanwhile, in the Big East Conference, Bangor, Hampden and Nokomis will likely lead the way.

Youth ruled in the KVAC last year, so this season many teams will reap all that playing time. All five members of last year’s Eastern Maine Class A all-tourney team were KVAC players, and all five were underclassmen.

Three of those all-tourney honorees play for Cony coach Paul Vachon, with MVP Katie Rollins leading the way.

The 6-2 senior center, who will play for Div. I Harvard last year, will again be joined by all-tourney mates Cassie Cooper, a 6-1 sophomore forward and senior point guard Briiana Rende. Natalie Nimon, a 5-9 senior forward, will also start.

The fifth starter is where things get sticky for the Rams. Senior guard Amanda Mason is working to recover from a soccer injury, but may be slow getting back into the flow. Junior guard Alyssa Cloutier is out with a field hockey injury. And senior guard Kristi Albert is dealing with what may be a softball injury.

That means 6-foot freshman Rachael Mack could be in the lineup early. Regardless, she’ll be a major role player this year in addition to a now-healthy Maggie Rende and freshman guard Shelby Pelkey.

“We have the parts,” Vachon said. “I just have to make the puzzle pieces fit together. … They know what they’d capable of doing and they’re a deserving group. They’ve been through a lot together.”

Skowhegan does have one new face as former Gardiner coach Heath Cowan is now with the Indians. But other than the new skipper, Skowhegan returns mostly intact.

The Indians placed now-junior guard Nicole Paradis and now-sophomore guard Bethany Sevey on the all-tourney list, with now-junior forward Kayla Thompson (5-9) named honorable mention, although she’s dealing with a knee injury. Forward Megan Smith (5-10 will also get playing time this year.

Gardiner is another young squad likely to be looking for a tourney spot again this year – the Tigers had a short but memorial postseason run last year as they almost rallied past Cony early in the second half of a quarterfinal. Just two seniors graduated last year and return such standouts as 5-11 junior forward Becky Dixon, 5-8 junior forward Alyce Pepin, and senior guard Laura Nimon.

Messalonskee had no seniors on its roster last year and got key contributions from freshmen guards Chelsea Barker, her twin Amanda Barker, and Ashley Busque. Senior forward Betsy French was all-tourney honorable mention for her effort in a quarterfinal loss to Skowhegan.

Bangor will certainly miss its lone graduated starter, Laura Clarke, who was a four-year varsity player. But the Rams have some experienced guards who have waited for their chance to go with one of the toughest frontcourts in Eastern Maine.

Coach Tom Tennett doesn’t have a firm starting five because he’s in a position to start a small, quick group or a tall, powerful group based on matchups.

Among the sure impact players are senior center Alyssa Ogden (6-0), senior forward Serena Dubois (5-10) and junior center Kelsey Curtis (6-1). Senior Caroline Weymouth, a 5-10 forward who can shoot as well as rebound, will likely be a nightly starter. The guard rotation will include junior Ilyse Angst and seniors Erin Porter and Amanda Webb.

“All of those kids have pretty good experience,” Tennett said. “Right now that would be the nucleus. And we’ve got some really good young kids.”

Amy Hackett, a 5-7 freshman guard, is one of those kids. She’ll come off the bench.

This season Dubois, an all-tourney honorable mention, will be more than a powerful inside presence. Constantly facing double teams, she has added an outside game to her repertoire.

“This year she’s worked hard on coming out, 12, 15 feet from the basket, and face the basket and do a little bit more slashing than just getting to the low post and staying there,” Tennett said.

Hampden, like Cony, has some injury questions going into the regular season. But the Broncos’ are a bit more serious – starting point guard Kim Stephenson will sit for most of the season with a knee injury, as will Becca Workman, who also has an injured knee but would likely have started at guard.

That still leaves a better-than-average nucleus of 6-0 senior forward Jill Beal – although she’s coming back from an ankle sprain – along with athletic 6-0 sophomore Tanna Ross, who will handle the ball, plus junior guard Annaliese Lafayette, senior guard Tiffany Bragg and 5-10 senior forward Amy Ryder.

“With our injuries, it’s going to have to be someone different who steps up every night,” he said.

Greenlaw expects Kimble Rawcliffe, a 5-10 sophomore forward and Lauren Maltz, a sophomore guard, to have an impact off the bench.

Expect to see a more structured offensive flow from Hampden this season, especially compared to last year, when guard Johanna Ghiringhelli was slipping through defenses.

“Our strength is going to be inside with Jill and Tanna and maybe Kimble, so that’s where our focus is going to be,” Greenlaw said.

Nokomis graduated just one starter from last year’s young team, and the Warriors of Newport could benefit from all the playing time their underclassmen had last year. The other key returning personality? Coach Earl Anderson, who resigned after the season but decided late this summer to go back.

Among the returning players are twins Alyssa Bragdon, a 5-9 forward, and Ashley Bragdon, a 5-10 center, 5-11 center Tatum Welch, guard Rozlyn Peterson, and senior guard Michelle Barden, who is the Warriors’ most experienced player. She started last year and had a big role off the bench the year before.

For some coaches, the Big East sleeper team this year may just be John Bapst of Bangor. Katie Andrle, a 5-8 senior forward, had the second-highest scoring average in the conference last year (12.5 points per game) and returns to the team, along with junior guards Chere Wickstrom and Ashley Freeman.