Cony coach views skowhegan as best team in Eastern Maine girls’ Class A

As the Eastern Maine Class A tournament moves to the Augusta Civic Center for the first time this year, you’d think Paul Vachon’s Cony girls basketball team would be excited for a chance to defend the Class A state title in their hometown.

Not so.

“We don’t know how to handle the situation, getting on a bus and driving five minutes,” he said of the short ride from the high school to the Civic Center. “So we might take a bus ride somewhere else before we get there. There’s going to be a lot of adjustment on our part.”

The Rams will go into this year’s tournament close to home but with a bit less tournament experience than previous years, which could open things up for the rest of the pack, including Skowhegan, Oxford Hills of South Paris, and Bangor.

Cony has only one starter back from last year’s tourney team, although that starter is standout guard-forward Cassie Cooper, who is averaging 16 points per game. She started the season as the point guard but has moved to a wing position now that senior Maggie Rende has taken over at the point. Rachael Mack, who came off the bench last year, has come into her own with 15 ppg. Forward Kristin Violette adds 14 ppg.

Guard Monica White rounds out the starting five. Shelby Pelkey, who is also a guard, has started some games.

“We can go quick or we can go tall,” Vachon said. “They’re very good players and they work extremely hard, and we have a lot of options depending on what we need for that evening.”

Although Cony is undefeated for the second year in a row, Vachon thinks the top team in Eastern Maine is 17-1 Skowhegan, whose only loss came against Messalonskee of Oakland.

The Indians certainly bring a lot of experience, and a lot of motivation. They’ve lost to Cony in two straight regional finals with players such as guards Nicole Paradis, Danielle Miller, and Bethany Sevey and forward Megan Smith in the lineup.

Skowhegan and Messalonskee are two of the six KVAC Class A North Division teams represented in the top eight.

Bangor had another strong season and the Rams have logged wins over Messalonskee, which has two of the top players in Eastern Maine in twins Chelsea Barker and Amanda Barker, and Mt. Blue of Farmington, whose Christina Mosher is considered one of the best post players in the state.

What Bangor has, however, is depth. Coach Tom Tennett can start three forwards at 5-9 or taller with Serena Dubois, Kelsey Curtis, and Tawyna Godinez, or go quicker with Ilyse Angst, Noelle Lincoln, Emily Heath, and Allie Clukey. Amy Hackett, Amy Wadleigh, and Caitlin Smith can do a little bit of everything.

Bangor wrapped up its regular season at 13-5, including a 5-1 mark since Jan. 24.

“The last six games we’ve really played very well,” Bangor coach Tom Tennett said. “I thought the best game we played was [a loss] at Messalonskee. I’m really happy.”

Meanwhile, Nokomis of Newport shouldn’t be overlooked. If the Warriors make it to the quarterfinals – they’ll need to win a preliminary-round game – their tough man-to-man defense and tall lineup of players such as Kelley Paradis, Tatum Welch, Rozlyn Peterson, and twin sisters Ashley and Alyssa Bragdon could make things hard for a high seed.

Nokomis, which wrapped up its regular season at 10-8, upset Bangor in the quarterfinals last year, and this year the Warriors have wins over Mt. Blue and Lawrence of Fairfield.