By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

Six months ago, the idea of Lewiston High School graduates Katie Morin and Val Dumais playing women’s basketball this winter was far-fetched enough. The thought of them winning weekly awards, well, that was utterly ridiculous.

Pick-up games and intramurals gave way to the real thing in a hurry, and two teams fighting to exceed the .500 mark couldn’t be happier.

Morin, a walk-on at the University of New England, was Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for the first seven days in February. Dumais, who rejoined the Saint Joseph’s College team just in time for her senior season, was named Co-Player of the Week by the Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

It isn’t that Morin is a late bloomer. The 5-foot-6 guard/forward enjoyed three solid varsity seasons at Lewiston. UNE coach and athletic director Curt Smyth simply was more interested in one of Morin’s teammates.

“I saw four or five Lewiston games last year. To be honest, at the time I didn’t really watch Katie,” Smyth said. “The person we recruited decided to go somewhere else. Then Katie came to our preseason meeting in September and expressed some interest in trying out for the team.”

Standing in the shadows was nothing new for Morin. Early in her high school career, she was known as Katie L. Morin, to distinguish her from unrelated teammate Katie A. Morin. At the time, Katie A. was a starter, while Katie L. came off the bench.

Now it appears that the younger Morin, no initial necessary, will be a fixture in the Nor’easters’ starting five. She’s second on the team with 8.1 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game, and also tied for the UNE lead with 33 steals.

On Tuesday, Morin made an early bid for a second straight freshman-of-the-week honor, rolling up 16 points, six assists and four steals in a 62-50 victory over New England College.

“We have nine first-year players, so we’ve trying to find the right combinations,” said Smyth. “Katie’s tough. She jumps well for a guard. Also, she came from a good program, so she’s fundamentally sound.”

First-year St. Joe’s coach Deb Reardon enjoys those same elements of Dumais’ early hardwood schooling.

Dumais played as a freshman before injuries intervened and she left the team. Reardon saw her playing on campus in the fall and opened the door for a comeback.

“She immediately stepped in and won the starting job as our point guard,” Reardon said. “We have four senior starters, and Val is instrumental to our success at both ends of the floor.”

Dumais has played in 19 of 20 games, missing one in order to take a graduate school entrance exam. She leads the team in assists while also contributing 6.7 points and 4 rebounds per contest. Dumais made 10 steals in her award-winning week.

“Val is a complete player,” said Reardon, “and nobody works harder.”

Ample credit goes to an LHS program directed by Mike McGraw, Paul Cote and Jim Hood over the last decade. No fewer than seven former Blue Devils have moved on to college hoop success. Kristi Royer (Bowdoin), Bianca Belcher (Colby), Chantal St. Laurent (Lehigh) and Lakeesha Holloman (Central Maine) preceded Morin and Dumais.

Kelsi Royer also is a major contributor at UNE. The junior and younger sister of Kristi scored eight points in Tuesday’s triumph.

Dirigo grad Sheena Weston rounds out a productive local trio at the Biddeford school.

Signing off in style

Developing his skills in the remote haunts of Western Class D basketball didn’t deny Allen Gould a distinguished NCAA Division I and II men’s basketball career. Gould, a 24-year-old graduate of Elan School in Poland Spring, is the fourth-leading scorer and second in rebounds and steals for the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen of Manchester, N.H.

Gould, a 6-foot-5 forward, routinely lit up the scoreboard with 40 and 50-point games as a high school standout. Then he was named top defender at New Hampton (N.H.) Prep, where he also was a third-team All-New England performer, and defense remains his calling card.

“We are not as explosive offensively as some of the teams in our league,” Southern New Hampshire coach Stan Spirou said in the Penmen’s media guide, “so defense will once again be the key to our success.”

But Gould (9.2 ppg) still knows how to shoot. He’s nailed 42 percent of his 3-point attempts and enjoys 84.6 percent proficiency from the foul line. Gould scored a career-high 22 last week in a victory over American International College.

As a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, Gould put up 19 points against North Carolina State.

In moving a few minutes west to the D-2 level, Gould gave himself better odds of team success. The Penmen have averaged 22 wins during Spirou’s 20-year tenure, making 13 NCAA tournament appearances.