Midcoast Athletics Center hosts top players from Knox, Waldo, Lincoln counties in fun, competitive games
WARREN — Dreams came true for Midcoast high school basketball fans on Friday, April 2 in the simplest of terms.
On this night, parents did not get to watch their children hoist a gold ball. Or win conference or regional championships.
But, for the first time this winter/spring, they got to watch their teenage children play. In-person. And not just via livestream.
And in a time of uncertainty due to the pandemic, that was enough — especially for family members of senior athletes — at the inaugural Midcoast High School All-Star Basketball Games, hosted by the Midcoast Athletics Center.
Watch video and see nearly 160 photos below.
Click to watch livestream of girls game.
Click to watch livestream of boys game.
The games featured many of the top players in the Midcoast, who were invited to participate in the event. Players from Oceanside High School of Rockland, Camden Hills Regional High Schoo of Rockportl, Belfast Area High School, Mount View High School of Thorndike, Medomak Valley High School of Waldoboro, Lincoln Academy of Newcastle and Boothbay Region High School were invited to participate.
“From our perspective, everything went really well,” said Rachel Coor, MAC owner. “The kids seemed to have a lot of fun, the fans were happy and the livestream was great for the people at home. It was really fun to watch kids who normally compete against each other play on the same team.”
She added there were multiple reasons she made the decision to host the event.
“I think, for the kids, we just wanted to give them one last special event to be part of. For their parents, obviously not being able to watch any games in-person this year, to now having the governor’s capacity limits increased, it was important to give those parents a chance to watch their kids play.”
And, as far as competition is concerned, a pair of games settled by one basket or less? What could be better?
In the girls game, Team Mackie edged Team Stiles 42-41, while in the boys game, Team Messer held off a late charge by team Reed to earn an 81-79 win.
The teams were named after their coaches.
Games consisted of two 20-minute halves, largely running time.
Three-point shooting contests also were held at halftime of the games, won by Oceanside’s Audrey Mackie and Cam Kingsbury. The two Mariners won their shootouts with 13 points.
Medomak Valley’s Abby Lash sang the national anthem prior to the games, while Bryan Sidelinger emceed the event.
Both games were officiated by Heath Commeau — who arrived late (because he has children, he said) — and Martina Graffam, who was punctual.
The following is a breakdown of the contests:
Boys game
Team members for Team Messer, coached by Belfast coach Marty Messer, included Medomak Valley's Finn Parmley; Oceanside’s Bodhi Ames; Camden Hills’ Jeremy Fraser, Casey Messer and Ryan Clifford; Belfast’s Jason Bartlett and Chris Kelley; Lincoln Academy’s Tucker Stiles and Gabe Hagar; and Mount View’s Joe Grassi. Marty is the father of Casey.
Team members for Team Reed, coached by Oceanside coach Larry Reed, included Oceanside’s Cam Kingsbury, Elliot Lucier and Everett Allyn; Medomak Valley’s Parker Morrison, Trevor Brown and Aiden Starr; Boothbay’s Ben Pearce and Sullivan Rice; Camden Hills’ Hunter Norton; and Mount View’s Sean Raven.
Bartlett led Team Messer with 20 points, while Fraser added 14; Clifford, 11; Kelley, nine; Ames, eight; Hagar, seven; Stiles, six; Messer, four; Grassi, three; and Parmley, two. The team was 1-of-3 (33 percent) from the foul line.
For Team Reed, Brown poured in a game-high 23 points, while Norton netted 16; Kingsbury, nine; Lucier, eight; Morrison, seven; Pearce, six; Starr and Raven, four; and Rice, two. The team was 10-of-16 (63 percent) from the foul line.
The game was back and forth with three ties through the opening minutes, the last being after a trey by Morrison knotted the contest 9-9.
But Team Messer went on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 22-9 lead after a three-pointer and slam dunk from Ames, a Hagar offensive putback and back-to-back treys from Ames and Hagar.
Team Messer maintained that advantage through the remainder of the first half, as Team Reed got no closer than eight points after a hoop by Brown midway through the half.
Team Messer continued to keep Team Reed at bay through much of the second half, but the sharp shooting of Kingsbury got Team Reed back into the game after he netted his third trey to bring his squad within 65-60.
An offensive putback by Parmley put Team Messer back up seven points, Team Reed rattled off eight straight points — two fast-break hoops from Brown, layup by Pearce and another Brown layup off a give-and-go — to give Team Reed its first lead since the early stages of the first half.
Bartlett gave Team Messer the edge back for good with back-to-back jumpers, which gave his squad a 71-68 advantage.
After Messer scored and Pearce netted two foul shots, Team Messer rattled off six straight points — four from Clifford and two from Bartlett — to take a 79-72 lead with 1:20 to play.
A late hoop from Brown put Team Reed down 81-79 with under three seconds to play, but Team Messer was able to dribble out the clock.
In the three-point shootout, Kingsbury emerged as the victor with 13 points, while Lucier and Kelley tied for second with 10 apiece; Morrison and Bartlett, tied for third with seven; and Fraser, fourth with six.
Girls game
Team members for for Team Mackie, led by coach Kelly Mackie (Audrey Mackie's mother), included Oceanside’s Audrey Mackie, Grace Woodman and Abby Waterman; Camden Hills’ Ella Powers and Molly Hixon; Lincoln Academy’s Maddy York; Mount View’s Kricket Thompson; Medomak Valley’s Abby Lash, Addison McCormick and Autumn Ripley; and Belfast’s Jaiden Philbrook.
Team members for Team Stiles, led by coach Laurie Stiles, included Oceanside’s Anna Kingsbury; Camden Hills’ Tessa Whitley and Ella Graffam; Lincoln Academy’s Lizzie Ober, Grace Houghton and Paige LaFrenaye; Boothbay’s Glory Blethen and Jaelyn Crocker; Mount View’s Hannah Coolen; Medomak Valley’s Alyssa Creamer; and Belfast’s Halle Tripp.
Audrey Mackie led Team Mackie with 18 points, while York added eight; Lash and Woodman, five; Waterman, four; and Woodman and McCormick, two. The team was 4-of-7 (57 percent) from the foul line.
For Team Stiles, Blethen led with 13 points, while Coolen added nine; Creamer, six; Crocker and Graffam, four; Whitley and Houghton, two; and Lafrenaye, one. The team was 6-of-9 (67 percent) from the foul line.
Creamer started the scoring for Team Stiles with back-to-back baskets — the latter of which a layup off her own steal — but that proved to be their only lead of the game as Team Mackie rattled off eight straight points after a hoop inside from Waterman and six in a row from Audrey Mackie after a pair of layups and a baseline jumper.
York netted back-to-back treys later in the half to give Team Mackie its biggest lead at 17-9, but a pair of Coolen free throws and a three-pointer from Blethen cut Team Stilies’ deficit to three points.
The half ended as Team Mackie held a 26-20 lead.
Coolen scored the first five points of the second half off a pair of foul shots and a three-pointer to make the score 26-25, but Team Mackie went on a 9-0 run — after a York layup, Woodman three-pointer, Audrey Mackie fast-break layup and McCormick offensive putback — to go up 35-25.
Team Mackie clung to a 10-point lead at 42-32 late in the game after a pair of Audrey Mackie free throws, but Team Stiles rattled off nine straight points after a Houghton bucket in the paint, Blethen three-point play and back-to-back baskets by Crocker.
Team Mackie was able to dribble out the clock in the game’s waning seconds.
In the three-point shootout, Audrey Mackie emerged victorious with 13 points, while Lash finished second with 10; Coolen, third with nine; Creamer and Blethen, tied for fourth with eight; and Woodman, fifth with five.