Even the most competitive of rivals can become the truest of teammates in an all-star setting.

That will be on full display Saturday during the Maine McDonald’s Senior All-Star Games at Husson College, but it will be tough to match the example set earlier this week during the Big East Conference senior all-star games at Hermon High School.

Among those on the court warming up for the girls contest was Hermon standout Ashley Kelley, the Big East Conference player of the year.

But while others were shooting and working on their ballhandling, the 5-foot-10 center was confined to tracking down loose balls for her teammates.

That’s because Kelley is in full rehab mode these days, for Senior Night proved to be the toughest night of her career.

Twenty-three seconds into a Feb. 4 game against rival John Bapst of Bangor, Kelley went down with an injury to her right knee. She soon tried to return but the pain was too much – the result of a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn lateral meniscus.

Not only did Kelley miss the high school basketball tournament – Hermon was 13-3 when she was injured – she also will miss her senior year of softball.

And that’s even more significant, given that last Nov. 14 the talented pitcher became Hermon High’s first athlete to accept a Division I athletic scholarship when she signed with the University of Maine.

Kelley had surgery Feb. 15, the first day of the basketball tournament, and she eventually did attend some games with the aid of a wheelchair.

Twenty-five points shy of 1,000 when she was injured, Kelley never expected to score again, but Big East White team coach Mike Webb of John Bapst had an idea.

“I was watching the girls warm up, and I got to thinking and wondered if we could get Ashley two points and then get her out of the game with a good hand from the crowd,” he said.

Webb talked with event organizer Paul Soucy and Blue team coach Brian McDormand of Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln and ultimately got the green light to get Kelley on the scoreboard.

“About 10 minutes before the game, coach Webb came to me and said, ‘How do you feel about making the first basket?'” she said. “I felt really good about it, that it was very respectful of them to do that for me.”

Indeed, this was no stunt designed to break a record, as was the case in 1998 when injured University of Connecticut star Nykesha Sales scored a staged basket against Villanova to set a school career scoring record.

This was merely about recognizing a fellow competitor whose moment as an all-star had been taken from her by the frailties of the human body.

So John Bapst center Hillary Laferriere directed the game’s opening tip to Bapst guard Eve Jordan, who passed the ball ahead to Kelley waiting near the basket.

But it wasn’t as easy as simply making a layup.

“I got a little nervous because I thought I had a wide-open basket and then the other team started coming after me,” Kelley said. “I thought I had to hurry, but I couldn’t jump so I was about a foot farther away than I normally would be on a layup.”

Kelley missed her first attempt but easily scored on her second try to give the Whites a 2-0 lead.

Then she came out of the game to the applause of an appreciative crowd – and rivals turned teammates.

“She had such a big impact on our league the last couple of years, she definitely deserved this,” said Webb.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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