In a very balanced season for schoolgirl basketball in Maine, Cony of Augusta’s Rachael Mack stood taller than everybody else.

Fifteen players have been named to the 32nd annual Bangor Daily News All-Maine girls basketball team, but only Mack, the 6-foot-2 Cony of Augusta forward who won both the Miss Maine Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year awards, returns from the 2006-07 All-Maine team.

Fryeburg Academy’s Coreen Hennessy, who may be the only schoolgirl in the state to have accepted a full basketball scholarship this season, joins Mack on the first team along with Morse of Bath’s Jill Henrikson and two players who led their teams to back-to-back state championships in Lee Academy’s Aarika Ritchie and Waterville’s Morgan Frame.

The second team is made up of Houlton’s Rachel Foster, Lawrence of Fairfield’s Brogan Liberty, Lake Region of Naples’ Renee Nicholas, Cony of Augusta’s Shelby Pelkey and Oxford Hills of South Paris’ Kari Pelletier.

The third team consists of Woodland’s Courtney Cochran, Deering of Portland’s Nicole Garland, John Bapst of Bangor’s Hillary Laferriere, Jenn Lola of Monmouth and Nokomis of Newport’s Kelley Paradis.

The All-Maine team honors the state’s top 15 players, regardless of class, position or region, as selected by the BDN sports staff with input from coaches, officials and other basketball observers.

For the first time in the history of the All-Maine team, votes solicited on the BDN Web site, bangordailynews.com, were also considered.

This year’s top 15, which doesn’t include several talented but injured players, is made up of nine members of last year’s honorable mention group. Four schools are represented in the top 15 for the first time.

First team

FRAME was, as one voter put it, the best player on the best team in the state this year. She led the Panthers to their second straight Class B state championship and undefeated season.

“She gets a lot done and makes things happen,” John Bapst of Bangor coach Mike Webb said. “She creates on her own, and she’s very difficult to defend. You can’t leave her alone because she can go outside and shoot it. Just a great all-around player.”

She also won the Eastern Maine Class B tournament Most Valuable Player award for the second straight year and was named to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B all-conference first team. Frame added 1.9 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.

“She handles the ball for that team when she has to, she blocks shots extremely well, she rebounds well, goes to the hole well,” Cony of Augusta coach Paul Vachon said.

She’s also Waterville’s first All-Maine representative since Melinda Nelson in 1986.

Watch Fryeburg’s HENNESSY play, coaches said, and it’s easy to see why the Miss Maine Basketball semifinalist has a scholarship to Division II St. Michael’s in Colchester, Vt.

“She may be the quickest player I’ve ever seen with the ball,” Lawrence of Fairfield coach Jason Pellerin said.

An All-Maine honorable mention last year, Hennessy won the Bob Butler Award, which is the Western Maine Conference player of the year award. She was a first-team all-conference player in addition to a McDonald’s Senior All-Star. Hennessy is the first Fryeburg player to be named to the All-Maine team.

She did a little bit of everything, averaging 4.5 spg and 3.6 apg. She also hit 75 percent of her free throws.

“Off the ball she’s an incredible anticipator and gets her hands on so many passes,” Lake Region coach Paul True said. “You have to try to keep her away from the play.”

HENRIKSON, the KVAC Class A South Division Player of the Year and Eastern Maine Class A all-tournament team member, is headed to Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

A spot-on shooter who was shooting better than 50 percent from the 3-point arc at one point this season and finished with 36 long-range shots, the Miss Basketball finalist had a knack for initiating contact and then converting at the free-throw line, where she shot 81 percent.

“She can get off a shot in traffic, pull up and shoot it, post you up,” South Portland coach Mike Giordano said. “She’s just a much more developed athlete than most kids her age.”

Henrikson also added 3.4 apg and 3.2 spg. What impressed some coaches was her nose for the ball.

“She follows her shot extremely well. There isn’t any doubt about that,” Vachon said. “She was a go-getter. She would go get the ball, follow her shot as well as anybody I’ve seen.”

Coaches praised MACK’S calm demeanor and consistent play. She may have been quiet in games, but the Eastern Maine Class A all-tourney team member and KVAC South first-team all-star was a force inside. In addition to averaging a double-double, she was also a 74.6 percent free-throw shooter.

“She’s so unassuming, then you look at the stat sheet and she’s got a double-double,” Pellerin said. “She’s not the type of kid that is begging for the ball. She can take it in the flow of the offense and still get her points. And then she has presence defensively with her size. She’s tough.”

A smooth, polished player with the ability to finish around the basket, Mack could take it outside, too.

“The thing about her is that she has a nice touch from 15-17 feet and can play with her back to the basket,” Hampden coach Ben Greenlaw said. “That’s a skills package most girls of that size don’t have.”

She’ll attend Colby College in Waterville next year along with RITCHIE, a Miss Basketball finalist and two-time Eastern Maine Class C MVP who ran Lee’s offense, rebounded, scored and often defended taller players.

“She’s a phenomenal player and a natural athlete,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “She handles the ball, she can shoot, she’s a great passer. Even the nights when she scored seven, eight points she was still doing her job out there.”

Ritchie, a two-time Eastern tourney MVP, Miss Basketball finalist and Penobscot Valley Conference first-team all-star, handed out 6.0 apg and had about 3.0 spg and 7.5 rpg.

“I just think she’s going to be a very, very good college guard and be able to focus on the things she does extremely well,” Vachon said.

Individual honors aside, all Ritchie and her classmates did was win, even as Lee moved from Class D to Class C this year. The Panda seniors won three state basketball titles, two in soccer, one in softball and one in cross country.

Second team

A Senior All-Star and semifinalist for Miss Basketball, the lanky, athletic FOSTER ended her career with some monster numbers – 1,493 points to go with 1,027 rebounds and 442 blocks. The PVC first-team all-star and two-time EM Class C all-tourney team member is undecided on her college plans.

“She was very impressive,” Lee coach Ron Weatherbee said. “Inside of 10 feet she was a consistent threat. She rebounded well, she pushed the ball up the floor and she altered a number of shots defensively.”

LIBERTY, a Miss Basketball semifinalist as well as the KVAC Class A North Player of the Year, will attend Bates College in Lewiston. The Senior All-Star and KVAC North first-teamer was difficult to handle because of her strength and shooting ability. Liberty also averaged 2.8 spg and 1.5 apg.

“I like the way she plays the game,” Giordano said. “She plays hard-nosed. She’s a tough matchup because she can post you up and hit the long-range basket.”

NICHOLAS meant a lot to the Lakers, especially on the defensive end. One statistic True kept shows the measure of Nicholas’ impact – she averaged 4.8 deflections per game this year along with 4.7 steals. She was the Western Maine tourney MVP, a Western Maine Conference first-team all-star and a Senior All-Star.

“She’s a tough defensive player and really made that team go,” Waterville coach Ted Rioux said. “She’s quite a player because she can shoot the ball and post up your guard. She draws a lot of attention and that opened things up for everyone else.”

PELLETIER, who is Oxford Hills’ first All-Mainer, was named the EM Class A MVP as the Vikings won the regional title. She set a tourney record by making 31 free throws and shot 88 percent from the line in the postseason.

A KVAC South first-team and Senior All-Star who is undecided on college, Pelletier also averaged 4.0 spg and 3.3 apg. Her ability to make big shots in pressure situations, however, couldn’t be measured.

“One thing that struck me was how fast she got her shot off,” Fryeburg coach Michael Hart said. “She made a lot of shots down the stretch that other kids couldn’t make because of her quick release. She’s a great little player.”

PELKEY, a Senior All-Star and Eastern Maine Class A all-tourney team member, is headed to Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. She averaged 3.4 apg and hit 30.8 percent of her 3-point attempts. Most coaches, however, valued her defensive play. She was named to the KVAC South all-defensive team in addition to the South’s first team.

“If she’s guarding you, she’ll shut you down,” Rioux said. “She’s just a load defensively. She made a lot of players better.”

Third team

The USM-bound COCHRAN, who was on the 2006 and 2008 Class D state title teams, averaged a double-double en route to the EM Class D MVP award and Downeast Athletic Conference honors. She drew so much attention that she averaged 3.7 apg and showed her athleticism with 2.4 spg.

LAFERRIERE, John Bapst’s first All-Mainer, created space around herself and used it like few players. The Big East Conference Player of the Year finalist and conference all-star shot 60.8 percent from the field and will attend the University of New England in Biddeford.

Few players could shoot like GARLAND. The Miss Basketball semifinalist and Southern Maine Activities Association first-team all-star was a threat from well beyond the 3-point line, helping lead Deering to the Class A state championship. She led the SMAA with 44 made 3-pointers in the regular season and averaged 3.0 apg.

LOLA’S strength and athleticism made her a tough matchup with her shooting ability and physical play. A first-team MVC all-star who will attend USM next year, Lola averaged 2.7 apg and 2.5 spg while setting a single-season school record with 401 points. She is Monmouth’s first All-Maine player.

PARADIS, a Miss Basketball semifinalist and KVAC North first-team and all-defensive team member, will play at UNE. She functioned as a guard-forward-center this season, averaging a double-double along with 3.0 apg, 3.0 spg and 2.1 bpg. She shot 71 percent from the free-throw line.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

990-8193

FIRST TEAM

Morgan Frame

Coreen Hennessy

Jill Henrikson

Rachael Mack

Aarika Ritchie

SECOND TEAM

Rachel Foster

Brogan Liberty

Renee Nicholas

Shelby Pelkey

Kari Pelletier

THIRD TEAM

Courtney Cochran

Nicole Garland

Hillary Laferriere

Jenn Lola

Kelley Paradis