ORONO – Growing up in rural Temple, population 560, Heather Ernest didn’t have many options when it came to partners for playing one-on-one.

The most convenient choice was her father, John, who was available, and willing.

When, as a sixth-grader, Ernest decided to commit herself to basketball, John Ernest offered to help his youngest daughter become the best player she could be.

“Playing one-on-one with him would be quite dramatic in the Ernest household because I’d come in crying, bleeding, and my mom would yell at him,” Ernest said with an impish smile.

“It was a vicious cycle and we’d go out and do it all again the next day,” she said of the sometimes frustrating process.

John Ernest concedes he tested Heather, not so much physically but in handling the psychological challenges.

“We worked a lot on the mental aspect of the game and how not to let things affect you and that type of thing,” he explained.

Heather’s progress was rapid and substantial. She quickly got smart enough and tall enough to play defense and beat her father.

“It wasn’t really super physical, but it got to the point where I found that her elbows and knees were just about as sharp as any dagger I ever felt,” John Ernest chuckled.

The skinny on Ernest

Ernest’s initiation to the rigors of basketball paid dividends. The lanky forward became a star at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington, leading coach Chandler Woodcock’s Cougars to back-to-back Class A state titles in 1999 and 2000.

Ernest capped her senior season with a spot on the NEWS All-Maine first team and was named Miss Maine Basketball.

Prior to her senior season, Ernest verbally committed to attend the University of Maine. Yet in spite of her accomplishments, many questioned whether the slim, 6-foot-1 post player could succeed against Division I competition.

“People make fun of me all the time because I’m so skinny and bones stick out here and there,” Ernest laughed. “If people look at me, they might think I’m a pushover, but I’m not.”

What Ernest lacks in bulk, she makes up for in basketball savvy and determination. She doesn’t back down while battling inside.

“I like be-bopping around with all those big girls and giving them my little bony elbows now and then,” Ernest said. “I would say throw my weight around, but it wouldn’t do much for me.”

Ernest is relentless at both ends of the court and possesses a variety of polished moves to maneuver around defenders.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid that has as much second effort as she has. She never quits,” said Stony Brook coach Trish Roberts. “She can have three players on her and somehow she’s going to get that ball off.”

Ernest was an America East All-Rookie selection as a freshman, then earned all-league first-team honors last season. This winter, through March 1, she leads the conference in scoring with 20.4 points per game, ranks second in rebounding (9.7 rpg), third in field-goal percentage (.551), and second in free-throw percentage (.847).

“I would think that Heather would be a sure-shot player of the year,” said Albany coach Trina Patterson. “She is a skilled player. You can double-team and triple-team, but she somehow finds a way to get her points.”

Ernest also has averaged 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals

while averaging a team-high 30 minutes per game.

“She’s been dealing with her leanness her whole life,” Versyp said. “She doesn’t have to prove anything anymore.”

Emotions in motion

Anyone who has met Ernest or watched her play likely has noticed her playful demeanor. The big, blue-mouthguard smiles and giddy laughter are what make her such a refreshing player in the UMaine program.

Even though game situations often bring pained expressions of which famed mime Marcel Marceau would have been proud, they are fleeting.

“What you see is what you get with Heather, on and off the floor,” said UMaine coach Sharon Versyp, who inherited Ernest in a talented class recruited by former coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie that also included Julie Veilleux of Augusta and Melissa Heon.

“Her personality is her strength,” Versyp said of Ernest. “She’s a really fun kid and that humor obviously is contagious.”

Still, one of Versyp’s biggest challenges has been trying to maximize Ernest’s focus, intensity, and mental toughness on the court without undermining her happy-go-lucky personality.

“I told her if she wants to be the best, I’m going to ride her extremely hard,” admitted Versyp, whose approach is similar to that of John Ernest. “She has that incredible personality, but she’s got to have that constant intensity from me as a coach.”

Ernest said she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“She has helped me become the player that I am today because she won’t settle for anything but the best,” she said.

Back in the saddle again

Ernest is a country girl. She grew up doing lots of riding, whether it was on horses, an all-terrain vehicle, or a farm tractor.

Ernest, an outstanding rider in horse shows, used to tell her mother she wanted to become an Olympic basketball player and an Olympic equestrian.

When her horse, Montana, threw her and stepped on her hand during the summer prior to her senior year at Mt. Blue, Ernest decided to stay off horses for a while.

“Horses will be in my life in the future,” she said. “They’re fun. It’s relaxing to ride them.”

While Ernest dreams of eventually riding off into the sunset, her short-term goal is to help UMaine win an America East championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The goal remains the same

Though Versyp has been a stern taskmaster, Ernest has enjoyed being part of the Black Bears’ resurgence this season. After two grueling and frustrating seasons, UMaine heads into the America East Tournament as the top seed with a deeper, more experienced and talented lineup.

“It is very fun, a lot better than the last two years,” Ernest said of UMaine’s winning streak that had reached 17 at press time.

“People on this team are very invested in this team and the school and the people of Maine who come to watch us play,” she added. “I’m very proud to be wearing ‘Maine’ across my chest; good, old Maine.”

Watching Ernest play for the Bears, it is apparent her uncanny determination and resilience have carried over from her childhood one-on-one battles against her dad.

“I think that’s the love and passion she has for the game,” Versyp said. “She’s just a really fun kid to watch play basketball.”