Thomas Knight remembers attending the Maine McDonald’s All-Star Banquet honoring, among others, his older sister, Holly. Then a gangly freshman, Knight could hardly allow himself to think that he might one day pick up some hardware of his own.

“After watching the Mr. Basketball presentation, I just thought about what an honor it would be to be a finalist. It would just be like a dream,” he said. “I never even thought I would even be in consideration.”

“Then my junior and senior year came around, and things started to look differently,” he said.

Knight is one of three finalists for Maine’s Mr. Basketball, announced Tuesday by the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches and local Maine McDonald’s owner/operators. Mick DiStasio of Cheverus and Gordon Fischer of Camden Hills are also up for the award.

The Miss Maine Basketball finalists are Morgan Frame of Waterville, Diana Manduca of Deering and Sloane Sorrell of Noble.

The winners will be announced at this year’s All-Star Banquet, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, March 13 at Husson University’s Newman Gymnasium.

“It’s quite an honor to be named a finalist,” Knight said Tuesday night. “It would be really nice to win the award, but even if I don’t, being named a finalist is still a big deal.”

“Fischer’s a friend of mine, and I’ve played against DiStasio a couple of times when we were younger in AAU,” he said.

Knight, a 6-foot-9 center who earned a full scholarship to play basketball at Notre Dame, averaged 22.4 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks in 22 games. The Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year led Dirigo to a 20-2 record, the MVC title and its first Class C state championship game in 26 years. The Cougars lost in the title game to Calais, 40-39, last Saturday.

DiStasio, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 20.4 ppg while leading Cheverus to a 19-1 record before the Stags were beaten in the Class A West semifinals to eventual state champion Thornton Academy. The Southern Maine Activities Association co-MVP plans to attend Trinity College.

Fischer led Camden Hills to the Class B state title last Friday while averaging 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists per game. He was named the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B Player of the Year and plans to attend Colby College.

The Maine McDonald’s All-Star Games are scheduled for Saturday, March 14th, beginning at 9:15 a.m. with the boys’ C/D game. The boys’ A/B, girls’ A/B and girls’ C/D games will follow, along with a girls’ 3-point shoot-out and boys’ slam dunk contest.

Local participants in the All-Star games include: Corey Therriault, Edward Little; Ben Russell and Jamie Sawyer, Mt. Blue; Melanie Cloutier, Oxford Hills; Lindsay Henderson, Buckfield; Liz LeBlanc, Jay; Kenni Norton, Mt. Abram; Aaron Allen and Kelsey Murphy, St. Dom’s; and Lindsey Gordon, Winthrop.

Tickets are good for all events and may be purchased at the door. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Net proceeds from the games benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine.