BY GARY HAWKINS

Staff Writer

Additional Photos

RICHMOND’S HIGH HOPES: Richmond High School’s Jamie Plummer (25) scored 58 points in three games during last week’s Western Maine Class D tournament. Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Jamie Plummer has yet to compose her pregame speech for Saturday’s Class D girls basketball state championship game.

This one will take a little extra thought considering the stakes, not that her previous three have been flops. The Richmond High School sophomore began this recent tradition in the last week’s Western Maine tournament and it’s already caught on.

“I was just getting ready and I decided to write some stuff down,” Plummer said. “The next day I shared it with the team and they seemed to like it.”

Plummer included a little strategy, some positive reinforcement and even a couple of quotes from well-known athletes in the speeches she composed last week. They were typed and single spaced.

“They’re lengthy for a high school kid,” Richmond coach Molly Bishop said.

Plummer had one of her teammates read the speech. Humility may have been a contributing cause but more likely it was due to time constraints.

“I’m too busy putting on my stuff,” Plummer said.

Her “stuff” includes knee braces, calf sleeves, ankle supports and last week a band around her head because of a concussion. And before any of that goes on, Plummer has to roll her calves and thighs so they won’t cramp during the game.”It takes Jamie a couple of hours to get ready,” teammate Danica Hurley said.

As well as Plummer played in the Western Maine tournament — she scored 58 points in three games — she’s far from 100 percent physically. She sees a physical therapist twice a week to help manage the pain. A lot of the pain in her knees is related to the rapid growth the 5-foot-11 center has experienced in high school.

“Once my knees started feeling better then it was my back,” she said. “Then my muscles. It’s a mess.”

Hurley said Plummer first sampled her speeches on the bus to the tournament. Once in the locker room, either teammate Brooke Lancaster and Noell Acord read them aloud.

“When she wrote those speeches it united everyone,” Hurley said. “Those were the pieces to the puzzle that connected everything.”

Plummer’s play also helped unite the Bobcats. During the regular season, she often sat for long stretches during games to rest her knees. She took time off during the Christmas break and then missed a few games to rest.

“She was pretty frustrated in the early part of the season,” Bishop said.

Plummer’s absence did give some of her teammates a chance to develop. But after the Bobcats suffered their only loss of the season to Rangeley — a game in which Plummer rested frequently and scored five points — it was evident she needed to be in the lineup.

A week later, Plummer scored 24 points in a win against Seacoast Christian and she’s taken off since. And she’s much more of a presence in the low post than she was a year ago.

“She’s matured,” Bishop said. “She’s much better at reading the situation.”

Plummer has played on travel or AAU teams in the spring since she was in third grade. But this spring she’ll rest her tired knees. She’s a three-sport athlete who plays soccer in the fall and pitches for the softball team, but eventually she’ll need some time off there as well.

It won’t be basketball season since that’s her main sport and something she hopes to pursue after high school.

“At some point I’m going to have to take a season off, whether I want to or not,” she said.

The Bobcats haven’t reached the state title game since 1996 and have never come away with a victory. Plummer has visited the Bangor Auditorium, site of Saturday’s game, but has never played there.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life and I hope it’s not the last time I’m here,” Plummer said. “It seems like a crazy atmosphere and I can’t wait to experience it.”

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

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