Maine Maritime Academy’s visit to the University of Maine at Farmington for a basketball doubleheader Wednesday night gave fans from surrounding communities a rare opportunity to see four leading local talents do their thing at the NCAA Division III level.
With Alyssa Burns bringing her championship pedigree to the floor, the Maine Maritime women’s team is rapidly putting its name in the discussion with Southern Maine, Bowdoin, Bates and UMF as one of the state’s premier programs.
Burns, a six-foot junior from Dixfield, recently added another trophy to her resume when she was named Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Co-Player of the Week for the first week of January.
Although the Mariners didn’t win their New Year’s tournament at Williams College, MMA knocked off a nationally ranked foe in the first round.
Burns used both games, meanwhile, to demonstrate that she is one of the top players in New England.
She scored 17 points and corralled six rebounds to lead MMA past No. 25 Clark, 61-48, on Monday, Jan. 2. Burns exploded for 24 points the next day, not quite enough to derail the hometown Ephs in the tournament final.
Those exploits came on the heels of another holiday hootenanny for Burns.
Burns, a graduate of Gavin Kane’s perennial Class C championship contending program at Dirigo High School, celebrated Thanksgiving week with tournament MVP honors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tip-Off and North Atlantic Conference Player of the Week recognition. Burns kicked off that triumphant, two-day stretch with 22 points against Gordon, then turned up the heat with 30 points and 10 rebounds in a win over MIT.
Other highlights for Burns included 26 points against Colby and a full plate of 14 points, eight rebounds, six steals and six assists versus Wheelock. And there’s the potential for even greater achievement with the conference campaign only beginning and two-thirds of the schedule still dead ahead.
In her first season after transferring to the coastal campus in Castine, Burns led Maine Maritime to a 24-5 mark and its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament last March. Maine Maritime pushed eventual regional champion USM into the final five minutes of regulation before the Huskies held on.
Rebecca Moore of Winthrop also contributes for the Mariners. The 5-foot-5 junior sank 4-of-5 field goals on her to nine points against Bay Path, a game that was notable because the Mariners set a school record for fewest points allowed in a game. MMA led 49-0 at the half before coasting home to a 75-7 win.
On the men’s side, the Mustangs have found wins harder to come by with only three in their first nine starts. Again, it’s a local junior leading the way.
Rangeley’s Neil Stewart, a 6-5 forward, averages 10.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, leading the Mariners in both categories. He’s joined in the frontcourt by Jarod Oldham of Peru (Mountain Valley), a 6-7 freshman center with unlimited potential.
Bouncing back
Sharing those MWBCA Co-Player of the Week plaudits with Burns was Meg Coffin of Bates. The multi-talented junior is recovering nicely from back spasms that prevented her playing in the NCAA women’s soccer tournament in November and kept her sidelined for an early-season hoop showdown against USM.
Coffin seems to be following in the footsteps of Olivia Zurek, the All-American who was among the New England Small Conference Athletic Conference leaders in every major offensive category as a senior last winter. Currently, Coffin leads NESCAC in both rebounding (11.2 per game) and field goal percentage (58.3). She stands second in scoring (17.4), steals (2.9) and blocked shots (1.6).
Huskies hit stride
Two local competitors placed in the top 10 last weekend to lead the University of Southern Maine women’s track and field team to an eighth-place finish at the Dartmouth Relays.
Emily Poliquin of Lisbon finished eighth in the triple jump, covering 33 feet, 7 1/4 inches. Stephanie Jette of Lovell (Fryeburg Academy) crossed the wire ninth with a time of 2:24.90 in the 800 meters.
Both are first-year performers at Southern Maine. Junior pole vaulter Melissa Bellemore and sophomore triple jumper Mindy Mondoux also scored points for the Huskies.
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