Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

South rules award finalists

Six of this year's seven finalists for Mr. and Miss Basketball are from southern Maine.

By Tom Chard tchard@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Southern Maine basketball teams swept state championships in classes A and B this past weekend, and the tilt toward the south continued Monday with the naming of the Mr. and Miss Basketball finalists by the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches.

Five of the seven finalists are from the Southern Maine Activities Association, and one is from the Western Maine Conference.

The boys' finalists are Dominic Borelli of Westbrook, Stefano Mancini of Falmouth, Indiana Faithfull of Cheverus and Keegan Hyland of South Portland.

The girls' finalists include Christy Manning of Scarborough and Claire Ramonas of Deering. The lone finalist from outside southern Maine is Jen Nale of Waterville.

Only seniors are eligible for Mr. and Miss Basketball. The winners will be announced at the Maine McDonald's High School Senior All-Star awards banquet March 12 at Husson University in Bangor.

Mancini, Faithfull and Manning led their teams to state championships this past weekend. Ramonas played on Class A state championship teams as a sophomore and junior, and Nale was part of three Class B championship teams.

Hyland, an All-State player as a sophomore and junior, was sidelined with a fractured pelvis for all but the last three games of the season but scored 32 points in the Red Riots' overtime loss to Westbrook in the Western Class A semifinals. Borelli has been a leader of strong Westbrook teams the past three years.

"It's exciting," Mancini said of being a finalist. "It feels good to be matched up with Keegan, Indy and Dom, three of my best friends. It's cool to be recognized."

Mancini scored 27 points Friday night to spark Falmouth to the Class B state title with a 72-65 overtime win over Camden Hills. He averaged 21 points per game this season.

"Stef has done so much for Falmouth basketball over the last four seasons," said Coach Dave Halligan.

"When it was crunch time, he was the one who stepped up. He's a student of the game. He gave up football to concentrate on basketball."

Manning was told by Coach Jim Seavey that she was a finalist.

"It's an honor just to be chosen," said Manning. "To be one of the last three is something I never really pictured because there are so many outstanding players in the state."

Manning scored 12 points Saturday as Scarborough beat Nokomis 52-32 for the Class A championship. She averaged 14.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocked shots.

"Christy is a very good all-around player who did a little bit of everything for us," Seavey said.

"She is the consummate teammate. Christy did whatever she could to make us better. She knew how to find open teammates. Each season, her shooting range went deeper."

Manning led the Red Storm in scoring and rebounding all four years and finished with 974 points and more than 700 rebounds. She will attend Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., on a track and field scholarship.

In addition to the announcement of Mr. and Miss Basketball at the all-star banquet in Husson's Newman Gymnasium, several others will be recognized, including all-star players and coaches, members of the all-state academic teams, regional foul shooting champions, Maine McDonald's Spirit of the Games recipients, the MABC Contributor Award winner and the media award winner. The banquet starts at 7:15 p.m.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at: tchard@pressherald.com