BANGOR – During Friday night’s Maine Association of Basketball Coaches awards dinner, Lee standout Shelby Pickering noticed something different about the group of girls with which she was sitting.

“We had a blast,” Pickering said Saturday morning after racking up 20 points and 15 rebounds in the McDonald’s East/West Senior girls C-D All-Star game. “We couldn’t stop talking. We had so much fun together.”

That camaraderie helped the East rally past the West early and then hold on for a 73-65 win in the opening contest of the all-star games Saturday morning at Husson College’s Newman Gymnasium.

The victory kicked off an East sweep for the four all-star teams. The East A-B girls cruised to a 64-47 win over the West thanks to 19 points from Cony of Augusta’s Katie Rollins, who was named Miss Maine Basketball at Friday’s banquet.

Presque Isle guard Natasha Deschene won the 3-point shooting contest held before the A-B girls game. She edged Stearns of Millinocket’s Trisha MacDonald, Wiscasset’s Sarah Whitfield, and Noble of North Berwick’s Hailey Kimball.

In the C-D game, the West surprised the East with a full-court press to open the game, leading to a 7-2 West lead. But the East came back, powered by Ashley Ames of Dexter and Pickering.

Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook’s Mindy Watson was the East team’s only true point guard, which meant MacDonald and Central of Corinth’s Jenny Rollins had to change their games a bit.

“We weren’t expecting a press, but when they came out in it, we just had to handle it,” Stearns of Millinocket guard Trisha MacDonald said. “We just ran the floor, got a little inspired.”

Pickering scored eight points in a 10-0 run at the end of the first quarter, and Ames had four points in a 9-2 stretch early in the second quarter to give the East a 26-12 lead. Rollins capped that run with a 3-pointer.

Ames finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Ames and Pickering, plus MacDonald (10 points overall), were they key figures in a 15-3 run in the third quarter.

“I think we said two things coming in, play a little defense and share the ball,” said East co-coach Jody Grant of Dexter. “And they did that. We were only together [for practice] a couple of times, but we played pretty well. They shared the ball.”

Greenville’s Rica Breton and Mattanawcook’s Shannon Pietras each added seven rebounds while Penquis of Milo’s Kate Hamlin had five. Sarah Schrader of Rangeley had six boards for the West.

Dirigo of Dixfield’s Alexa Kaubris, a Miss Basketball finalist, had eight points.

In the A-B game, there was some concern that the guard-heavy East roster would struggle against a taller West squad.

But the East would have all the height it needed in 6-2 Katie Rollins.

East forwards Rollins, Messalonskee of Oakland’s Jenna Lettenberger (5-8), and Caribou’s Monica Selander (6-1) played fine defense on a West roster that included Fryeburg’s 6-2 Ana Nkolic, Yarmouth’s 6-2 Aylie Baker, Portland’s 5-11 Ashley Anderson, and Massabesic of Waterboro’s 5-11 Sonya O’Tash. Even guard Amanda Noyes of Scarborough was listed at 6-0.

“We had to box out really hard because they had the size advantage,” said Selander, who had a game-high eight rebounds.

The East’s six guards (Winslow’s Amanda Byrne was also on the roster but was out of town this weekend) did the rest. Rollins’ Cony teammate, Briiana Rende, chipped in with 16 points: 5-for-11 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

The rest of the East guards, including Mt. Blue of Farmington’s Amy Mansir, Camden Hills’ Samantha Wiley, Maranacook of Readfield’s Toby Martin, and Presque Isle’s Deschene, combined for 20 points.

“At first we were worried, but we just used our guard play,” said Wiley, who hit two 3-pointers for six points.

The East had a 10-point lead at the end of the third and outscored the West 19-12 in the fourth as the West had five turnovers to the East’s one.

“When you haven’t played for a few weeks, you get winded, and one of the strengths they had was their guards,” said Greely of Cumberland Center’s Jim Seavey, who was one of the West coaches. “Our guards were constantly having to work.”

McAuley of Portland’s Tara Beaulieu led the West with nine points.

Miss Basketball finalist Whitney Morrow did not attend the all-star activities because she was on a recruiting trip to the University of Richmond.

EAST A-B GIRLS 64, WEST 47

West all-stars East all-stars

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Beaulieu 4 6 0 0 9 Lettenbrgr 2 6

Kimball 3 7 1 2 7 Mansir 2 8 2 6

Dupee 4 8 0 0 8 Rende 5 11 6 16

Laferte 0 4 2 2 2 Wiley 2 6 0 6

Anderson 2 6 1 1 5 Martin 2 4 4

Noyes 1 6 0 0 2 Deschene 2 5 4

Nkolic 2 7 1 2 5 Rollins 7 10 4 18

O?Tash 2 5 1 2 5 Selander 2 5 4

Baker 2 7 0 1 4 Foster 0 4 0 0

Totals 20 56 6 10 47 Totals 24 58 14 20 64

West 12 27 35 47

East 12 32 45 64

3-pt. goals ? West (1-12): Beaulieu 1-2, Laferte 0-1, Noyes 0-1, O?Tash 0-2, Baker 0-2, Kimball 0-4; East (2-12): Wiley 2-4, Foster 0-1, Deschene 0-1, Mansir 0-2, Rende 0-2, Martin 0-2

EAST C-D GIRLS 73, WEST 65

West all-stars East all-stars

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Connor 6 10 2 4 14 Hamlin 1 2 6

Weston 0 2 0 0 0 Breton 3 8 7

Schrader 3 13 1 2 7 Rollins 2 4 5

Kaubris 3 7 2 4 8 Watson 0 5 0

Whitfield 4 10 0 0 10 Jago 0 1 0

Walker 1 3 0 0 2 Eagan 0 2 3

Emery 1 5 0 0 2 Pietras 2 9 6

Osgood 3 6 0 0 6 MacDonald 3 10

Fetterhoff 2 7 3 4 8 Ames 8 11 16

Romero 3 13 2 4 8 Pickering 7 14 6 9 20

Totals 26 76 10 18 65 Totals 26 64 19 28 73

West 10 26 44 65

East 17 32 56 73

3-pt. goals – West (3-15): Whitfield 2-4, Fetterhoff 1-3, Romero 0-1, Connor 0-1, Weston 0-1, Schrader 0-1, Kaubris 0-1, Emery 0-3; East (2-5): MacDonald 1-1, Rollins 1-1, Hamlin 0-1, Watson 0-1, Ames 0-1