By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

Hope you’re sitting down for this one.

A 6-foot forward with a tireless work ethic, textbook rebounding technique, deft shooting touch and four years of girls’ basketball championship game experience at Dirigo High School is thriving at the next level.

Wild stuff, eh?

Alyssa Burns’ sophomore season at Maine Maritime Academy shouldn’t shock anybody, but you can bet North Atlantic Conference women’s hoop opponents will employ different tactics the second time they see the Mariners on the schedule.

Burns has hit double-digit points in 13 of her first 14 games this winter, sending many teams retreating to the chalkboard. And Maine Maritime, not one of the first six or seven schools that depart the lips if you’re playing an association game with the words “Maine” and “women’s basketball,” is a resounding 12-2. They’ve won seven of eight in the NAC.

“We’re pretty lucky to have her,” said fourth-year head coach Craig Dagan.

Burns spent her freshman year at American International College. She’s one of four first-year starters for Maine Maritime, which also returned 10 veteran players from its 2003-04 squad.

One of the most prolific players in Dirigo’s decade of dominance in the Mountain Valley Conference, Burns didn’t receive quite the same attention as Gretchen Curtis, Rebecca Fletcher, Tara Gagnon, Niki Dominiczak or Lyndsay Clark. And she’s still a quiet star.

“After we beat Thomas (Wednesday night), we were talking and I said, Alyssa, you played well. Maybe it wasn’t your best game.’ Then come to find out she only had 28 points and 10 rebounds,” Dagan said. “Hey, what the hell do I know?”

Observers don’t usually mention Maine Maritime in the discussion with Bowdoin, Bates, Southern Maine or NAC rivals Husson and University of Maine at Farmington. But the Mariners are gaining, with a big boost from Burns.

She’s averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds and nearly four steals per game. Twice, Burns has earned NAC and Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week honors, and she’s also made the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week.

Sprinting to the finish

Lewiston’s Chantal St. Laurent isn’t slowing down at the end of her Division I hoop career. Her pass-first, shoot-in-an-emergency philosophy and steadying presence for Lehigh University have made St. Laurent one of the premier point guards in the Patriot League.

St. Laurent, a psychology major at the school in Bethlehem, Pa., led the team with 3.2 assists per game as a junior and is sharing the wealth at an even greater clip of 3.7 this season. She’s started all 16 games for the Mountain Hawks, who remain unbeaten in their conference, tied with Holy Cross.

The 5-foot-6 defensive pest is second on the team with 23 steals.

Dropping anchor

Kinsey Durgin of Greenwood, a 1,000-point career scorer at Telstar Regional High School, has started every game of his sophomore season for Rhode Island College.

The shooting guard averages 12.4 points per game for the Anchormen, who are 10-4 overall and 4-1 in Little East. Durgin knocked down 18 in a win over Southern Maine on Jan. 11.

In her first season at the same school, New Gloucester’s Josalee Danieli has started nine of 15 games, averaging 5.9 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Ice time

University of Maine standouts Derek Damon and Greg Moore have the built-in following, but don’t forget the third St. Dominic Regional High School graduate presently playing Division I hockey.

Auburn native Joe Dumais has a goal and three assists for Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. The 22-year-old forward scored the seventh goal of his career in a 3-2 win over Bentley on Dec. 30.

Dumais has helped Quinnipiac continue a run in which it has been one of only five Division I programs to produce six consecutive winning seasons. Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan and Michigan State are the others.