Cindy Blodgett, who spearheaded Lawrence High of Fairfield to its second consecutive Class A basketball state championship this winter, has been named the Gatorade Circle of Champions Maine High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Blodgett, a 5-foot-8 point guard, becomes the first Maine sophomore to claim the award, which honors the player who has displayed excellence on the court and in the classroom. A panel of regional media advisors and a national advisory board assembled by Scholastic Coach magazine, made the selections.

The versatile Blodgett led the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference in scoring (24 points per game), steals (4.8), and assists (4.5) while ranking third in free-throw percentage (.759) and ninth in rebounds (7.8).

Previous Maine schoolgirl winners include Seana Dionne, Catrina Rainey, Stephanie Carter, Heather Briggs, Rachel Bouchard, and Lynn Bay.

The Bangor High School basketball team received a heart-felt welcome during a reception held Sunday at Red Barry Gym. Approximately 300 faithful Ram supporters turned out to applaud Coach Roger Reed, his players, assistant coaches, and managers for their outstanding season.

Bangor High Principal Norris Nickerson, Bangor Mayor William Cohen, school committee chairwoman Martha Newman, Superintendent of Schools Jim Doughty, and Athletic Director Steve Vanidestine all lauded the team on its tremendous accomplishments.

Doughty had an emotional message for the team.

“I witnessed the greatest high school basketball game that I have ever witnessed, or anyone else in the state of Maine has witnessed, last (Saturday) night,” Doughty said. “They did win by two points, that team called South Portland, but they did not prove they were a better team.”

He received a standing ovation.

Reed was the recipient of two standing ovations from the crowd, the first of which came when he walked to the podium and the second of which followed these comments:

“There is not a high school in the state that can boast the caliber of citizens as the kids here at Bangor High School,” Reed said. “I would never trade places with the coach or administration at South Portland High School. I would rather be here talking to you with the kind of class that we have.”

Nickerson also read a message from Gov. John McKernan, who had been in attendance for Saturday’s state title game at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, to Bangor Coach Roger Reed.

Here is an excerpt from the governor’s message, which expresses sentiments shared by all of us in Bangor who witnessed Saturday’s performance:

“Dear Roger,

“The way you and your players represented the city of Bangor gave me as much pride in my hometown as anything I have experienced in my life.

“Just as their parents and grandparents demonstrated what is so special about Bangor by greeting so many of our troops coming home from Operation Desert Storm last spring, your players demonstrated last (Saturday) night that character is alive and well in the young people of Bangor, Maine.

“Having been on the Bangor High School team which lost to Stearns by one point in the Eastern Maine tournament in 1965, I know how disappointed you are today. I would like to share with all of you a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt, who said….

” `It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

” `The credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.’ ”

Gov. McKernan has invited the members of the Bangor High basketball team to Augusta later this month for a luncheon at the Blaine House.