Paradis stars in tourney debut Skowhegan, Oxford Hills bands join forces on Anthem

Nokomis of Newport freshman Kelley Paradis had an impressive debut at the Bangor Auditorium on Friday afternoon, scoring a team-high 11 points for the No. 6 Warriors in their win over No. 3 Bangor.

Nokomis coach Earl Anderson said he’s been eager to get Paradis at the high school ever since she started coming to summer camps with her sister, former Nokomis player Aimee Paradis.

“She’s a kid who’s been on the radar screen for me for a while because she’s Aimee’s little sister,” Anderson said. “She’s been coming to camp since she wasn’t even old enough.”

Paradis, a 5-foot-6 guard, hit all four of her shots in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer, and was 5-for-9 in the game.

It was Paradis’ fast-break basket in the preliminary game against No. 11 Waterville that iced the 40-36 Nokomis win. She had 17 points in that game.

“What I like about Kelley is [her] mental makeup. That’s what determines if you’re going to be a good player,” Anderson said. “She stepped up huge [in the quarterfinal]. In the first quarter she carried us, absolutely carried us. She’s a winner, and she’s only going to get better.”

Bands combine on Anthem

The Oxford Hills and Skowhegan bands gave the Auditorium crowd a treat before Saturday morning’s Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal between the schools’ girls teams.

Oxford Hills, which as the visiting team was given the honor of performing the National Anthem, invited their counterparts across the floor to join in.

The collaboration came about because OH band director Kyle Jordan has known Skowhegan band director John Reeves for about 14 years, ever since Jordan was teaching in Houlton and Reeves was in Presque Isle.

So when the two were talking before Saturday’s game, Reeves noticed both bands played the same arrangement of the anthem. Jordan invited the home team over and they played a stirring rendition of the song.

“We just decided to have them do it together,” Jordan said. “I think it was very well received by the audience and I think people really enjoyed it. It’s the same music, it’s just putting the kids together. It was excellent. They did a nice job.”