BRUNSWICK HIGH SCHOOL guard Mitchell Black, here against Lawrence in a game earlier this year, was named the KVAC South Division Player of the Year. Black leads the sixth-seeded Dragons against No. 3 Mt. Blue on Saturday in the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
Brunswick senior Mitchell Black was named South Division Player of the Year after leading the Dragons to an 11-7 record and sixth seed in the Eastern Maine Class A tournament.
Black averaged 13.7 points per game, 4.4 rebounds/game, 3.3 assists/ game and 3.3 steals/game.
Black was also named All- Academic, along with Mt. Ararat’s Anna Bruning (manager), Brett Martin, Ben Rogers, Joey Van Note and Josh Wright.
“Mitchell Black has been the ultimate team player in his time here playing for me on the basketball team,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson. “A four-year member of the varsity, he was thrown into action immediately, and continued to improve each and every day. He was also elected as a captain in both his junior and senior seasons.
“After his freshman season, he was named to the KVAC All-Rookie team. During our postseason meeting, we sat down and put some goals in front of him. I challenged him to raise his game in each of the next three seasons. As a sophomore, we set Second Team All-KVAC, as a junior we wanted First Team All- KVAC, and finally I challenged him to be named Player of the Year as a senior. Mitch has met all of these individual goals.
“Our final goal is to make some noise in the upcoming tournament! He has been a pleasure to coach each and every day for the past four seasons.”
Named to the South Division First Team were Black, Cooper Walker of Cony, Quin Leary of Edward Little, and Corbin Hyde and Shawn Ricker of Lewiston.
Second Team selections were Garrett Erb of Brunswick (6.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg), Omar Haji-Hersi of Edward Little, Tom Grady of Erskine, Luke Cote of Lewiston and Steven Patrie of Lewiston.
“Garrett has also shown tremendous growth,” continued Hanson. “ He, too, is a four-year varsity player who was thrown to the wolves early. He has been asked to play any one of five positions for us. Usually, he is asked to guard the opposing teams biggest player. He goes to battle every night, and does everything and anything that the coaching staff asks.”
Coaches of the Year were Ben Willoughby of Erskine Academy and Tim Farrar of Lewiston.
North Division First Team members were Christian McCue of Hampden, Spencer Carey of Lawrence, Nick Hilton and Cam Sennick of Mt. Blue, and Levi Barnes of Skowhegan.
The North Second Team has Patrick Stewart and Ellis Throckmorton of Bangor, Yuhi Sasaki of Brewer, Zach Gilpin of Hampden and Eric Berry of Mt. Blue.
Russ Bartlett of Hampden was named Coach of the Year.
Nelson First team
Helping the Mt. Ararat girls to a fourth seed in the Eastern Maine Class A Tournament, Mallory Nelson was named to the South Division First Team, along with Cony’s Mia Diplock (Player of the Year) and Josie Lee, Ashlee Arnold of Edward Little, and Abbie Eastman of Oxford Hills.
“Mallory is aggressive on defense and tenacious on the boards for us,” said Mt. Ararat coach Kelly LaFountain. “She has strong drives to the basket and is a tough match- up for many of the teams we play. She works hard and hustles whenever she is on the floor and is one of the players we look to when we need a basket late in the game.
“She is a quiet leader who other teams need to account for each time out.”
Picked to the South’s Second Team were Mt. Ararat’s Leah Hitchcock and Caitlin LaFountain, Melanie Guzman of Cony, Kory Norcross of Edward Little and Alex Rowe of Oxford Hills.
“Leah has had a very good year for us,” said Kelly LaFountain. “She has battled back from two major injuries in her career and is a player other teams have to game plan against. Her presence inside on both ends of the floor has been a big key for us getting second chance opportunities on offense and altering opponents shots on defense. It’s nice to see her hard work be rewarded.
“As a captain, Leah is our vocal leader and is very supportive of all her teammates. Her personality and sense of humor really brings the team together.”
On daughter Caitlin, coach LaFountain said, “ Caitlin does a lot of the little things for us on both ends of the floor. She can shoot and drive hard to the basket and sees the floor well. She is a solid defender for who will come up with some big defensive rebounds when we need them. She has the ability to set her teammates up for good shots and works hard to help the team win in any way she can.”
North First Team members include Jordan Maxwell of Hampden, Mary Badeen and Megan Pelletier of Messalonskee, Gabby Foy of Mt. Blue and Amanda Johnson ( Player of the Year) of Skowhegan, while Second Team picks included Katie Brochu of Bangor, Maddy Bailey of Brewer, Amy Hilton and Miranda Nicely of Mt. Blue, and A.J. Martineau of Skowhegan.
Tom Philbrick of Mt. Blue was named Coach of the Year.
Mt. Ararat’s Molly Estes and Hitchcock were also named All-Academic.
Wrestling
Jared Jensen of Brunswick, who recently captured the 152-pound Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship, was named to the KVAC First Team. He was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Jared has been wrestling since his dad — Erick — has been coach at Mt. Ararat.
“He probably wrestled before that,” said Mt. Ararat assistant coach Mark Nowak. “As a young boy, Jared would come to as many high school practices and meets that he could attend. Since he started high school, he has never missed a practice.
“Jared is dedicated to the sport of wrestling and it shows every day at practice with his hard work ethic. He always wants to wrestle the best and never backs away from any opponent. Jared strives for perfection and can outwork any other wrestler.
“Being the coach’s son isn’t easy, but from what I have seen, he has balanced the son and the wrestler. Even though he wrestles for Brunswick, he was voted by his fellow wrestlers as one of the tricaptains.
“Jared lost two matches this year to the same opponent from Vermont. I think what impressed me the most about those two losses was the way he handled them. He was very mature and he learned from each loss. The second loss he had was hard fought and Jared was in the match to the end. There is the possibility of a rematch if Jared makes it to the New Englands and it should be quite a battle.
“Jared is a role model, his teammates look up to him and he is always willing to teach and help other wrestlers do better. One final note: Jared and his little brother Christian are the best of friends.”
Gary Stevens of Morse was named to the First Team at 126, while teammate Wyatt Brackett was a Second Team pick at 145. Morse’s Dylan Harrington was named Class B All-Academic.
Dan DelGallo was named the Class B most Outstanding Wrestler, while Cony’s Shawn Totman (Class A) and Camden Hill’s Levi Rollins (Class B) were named Coach of the Year.
“This year when Wyatt won the Hermon Tournament he commented that this was his first tournament championship ever,” said Morse coach Shawn Guest. “The kid has won over 140 matches in high school so far and I was a bit taken aback. He looked at me and commented that he would be a two- time state champion and won multiple tournaments if the DelGallo kids from Gardiner had never wrestled. He lost to Matt and Danny in the last two years in the state finals as well as several Westlake, Tiger, KVAC and Regional Tournaments. The ‘DelGallo Curse’ as we call it.
“Gary has really come into his own a bit this year,” continued Guest. “He has taken wrestling a lot more seriously this year and his record shows it. As a senior he has stepped it up and Saturday could be his payoff.
“He has over 150 career wins and winning a state title would cap off a pretty good career.”
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