All-Star contests showcase guards Four McDonald’s games today

All-star basketball games typically are showcases for the little guys.

Sure, the big guys will get their dunks, but it’s the guards who have the ball in their hands most of the time, either dealing to former rivals turned teammates or creating their own opportunities.

Piscataquis of Guilford guard Ryan Yeo hopes to make the most of his all-star opportunity when he joins 79 of Maine’s top high school senior boys and girls basketball players at the 25th annual Maine McDonald’s Senior All-Star Games to be played today at Husson College in Bangor.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Yeo this week after a practice with his East C-D teammates, a roster that includes such former local foes as Chris Rabideau and Matt Murray of Eastern C champion Dexter and Jordan Allen and Devin Perkins of Eastern C runner-up Penquis of Milo.

“It’s a lot better playing with them than going against them,” he said.

Yeo is a player seemingly made for the fast-break, sometimes helter-skelter pace of an all-star game. The 5-foot-10 guard’s game is built largely on speed, both with and without the ball. Yet he’s able to harness his speed well enough to shoot efficiently – 45 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free-throw line during his senior season for PCHS.

Yeo was the leading scorer and rebounder for a youthful Pirates squad that included just three seniors and seven sophomores. He averaged 17 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game.

Ninth-ranked PCHS went on the road to win a preliminary-round game at No. 8 Houlton and earn a trip to the Bangor Auditorium, but despite Yeo’s 22 points and eight rebounds, the Pirates’ season ended in a 62-43 quarterfinal loss to top-ranked Dexter. Coach Jamie Russell’s club finished with a 10-10 record.

“I think we had a pretty good year,” said Yeo, who will continue his basketball career at Maine Maritime Academy next winter.

“All we really wanted at the beginning of the season was to get to Bangor,” said Yeo. “Coach asked us before the season what we wanted to do, and that’s what we all said.”

Today’s four-game all-star schedule kicks off at 10 a.m. with the C-D girls contest, followed by the boys C-D game at 11:25 a.m., the girls A-B game at 12:50 p.m. and the boys A-B game at 2:15 p.m. Tickets are $5 each and are good for all four games.

Net proceeds from the games benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine. The charity provides grants to not-for-profit children’s organizations across the state as well as supporting Ronald McDonald Houses in Portland and Bangor.