Just last season the Catherine McAuley girls basketball team was a fresh face in the Class A state championship game. The No. 10 seed, McAuley knocked off four teams in the Western Maine tournament for its first regional title and the Portland school’s first trip to the state championship game.
The Lions enjoyed the ride, celebrating their postseason effort with fans moments after their loss to Mt. Blue of Farmington.
Things will be different for McAuley in facing Eastern Maine champ Nokomis of Newport for the Class A state crown at 7:10 p.m. Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium.
This year, the Lions are the veterans. The Warriors are making their first appearance in the state final.
Although one of McAuley’s starters is questionable for Saturday (5-foot-11 forward Justine Pouravelis sprained her ankle in the Western Maine championship game March 10), coach Liz Rickett has a host of tall, experienced players who aren’t satisfied anymore with just making it to the state final.
“We were excited about making states last year,” Rickett said. “We wanted to win, but we ran into a very good Mt. Blue team and Heather Ernest.”
The Lions are now 20-1 (they lost a regular-season game to Deering of Portland) and are back in contention this season thanks to some transfer students and the continued top-notch play of Pouravelis.
McAuley graduated two starters last year, but they’ve been replaced in part with two transfers, Sarah Marshall and Tricia Freeman. There’s no denying that last year’s postseason run gained a lot of attention for the school.
“It’s interesting. We had a lot of success last year, and I think it did lead to us getting some good freshmen who happen to be athletes,” said Rickett, who estimated that around 20 students transferred this year to the 320-student, all-girls school.
Marshall, a sophomore, spent her freshman year at Falmouth before enrolling at McAuley this fall. She filled in immediately for graduated point guard Danielle Jendrasko.
Marshall was immediately effective. She leads the team in scoring with 17.9 points per game. She’s also averaging 6.5 assists and 4.1 steals per contest.
“[Marshall’s transfer] was a surprise, but a nice surprise,” Rickett said. “Danielle did a lot for us on the floor but Sarah stepped right in and she’s filled in pretty well.”
Freeman, a 5-11 forward, came from Scarborough this year after her younger sister decided to transfer. Freeman is a well-rounded player who can rebound (6.3 per game) and shoot 3-pointers (32.2 percent from the arc). Her 10.6 points-per-game average is third-highest on the team and she also averages 3.2 assists and 2.5 blocks.
Then there’s Pouravelis, who has been McAuley’s mainstay in these past two years of success. She was an All-Maine honorable mention last year and her numbers have been impressive this season: 16.4 points, eight rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, and 60.1 percent shooting from the floor.
But during the Western Maine championship game last weekend she went down with a sprained ankle in the first quarter and came back late to finish with seven points. McAuley athletic director Joseph Kilmartin said Thursday that Pouravelis isn’t 100 percent but is expected to play.
Sophomore Gabby Stone had a fine effort in the state championship game last year, when the 6-1 center came off the bench to score 10 points and add six rebounds. Now a starter, Stone has been contributing 6.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Jessica Norden (5.2 ppg) rounds out the starting five.
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