When the Eastern Class A basketball tournament tips off Friday, it will feature a number of teammates auqaring off against one another. The bonds established during years of AAU play will be set aside when their respective school teams meet.

Among those girls are Maine Maniacs players that have been together for years, including Edward Little’s Emily Jacques, Mt. Blue’s Caitlin Kane, Lawrence’s Nia Irving and Dominique Lewis. All five players were KVAC all-stars.

“It’s actually a really cool experience because we’re really close because of the Maniacs,” said Jacques, a junior forward. “We’re friends off the court, but once we’re on the court, it becomes serious, and it’s game time.”

For Jacques and Kane, that’s Friday at 7 p.m. The fourth-ranked Red Eddies face the fifth-seeded Cougars. The two teams met late in the regular season with Mt. Blue getting the win. Tonight, the winner advances, and could play Irving and Lewis down the road. The loser calls it a season.

“We’re all really competitive but it’s still really fun,” said Kane, a junior guard. “No matter what, we’re still friends off the court.”

That group has played with each other as Maniacs since elementary school. They’ve grown up as teammates and friends. Now, those connections are put on hold.  There might be a friendly wave or a joke exchanged, but they’re all playing to win.

“It means more now,” Jacques said. “During the regular season, it always meant something, but it was a little less than the actual playoffs.”

These meetings provide the players an opportunity to test themselves against players they know well. 

“I like being able to compete with them because they’re the ones in the past five yeras that have made me a better player,” Kane said. “So, playing against them, I can thank them for making me the player that I am.”

Bragging rights are also at stake. They are in contact via social media, and often attend each others’ games to offer support. But they’re not afraid of a little boasting either.

“Once we give it time, we can joke about it,” Jacques said. “We wait until a little bit later on.”

The Maniacs players aren’t the only ones that could play each other. Mt. Blue’s Addie Brinkman has been a teammate of Oxford Hills’ Anna Winslow and Tianna Sugars on Andrew Morong’s AAU squad. Morong is the women’s coach at Central Maine Community College.

“It’ll be competitive because you want to win,” said Brinkman, a senior forward. “You want to see them do good as well, but it just makes it more competitive.”

Brinkman’s Mt. Blue team squared off against Winlow and Sugars last week in the teams’ regular season finale. The Cougars and third-ranked Vikings won’t meet up in the tourney unless each advance to the regional final.

Though these players have many friends and acquaintances they may play against during the tournament, going head-to-head with teammates is something different.

“Your closer with them,” Brinkman said. “You want to see them succeed as well. Its more fun with teammates because you’re more competitive with them than you would be with someone you’re just friends with.”

Brinkman said she even prefers playing against someone that’s a teammate because it helps bring the best out of her.

“I like it better,” Brinkman said. “I feel more competitive and I feel like I’d play better and it would be more fun also.”

Jacques agreed. Playing her Maniacs teammates often fuels her best efforts. Jacques has already played against Kane twice this season, splitting the two games. She’s played Irving and Lewis just once, losing that game. Irving is a junior forward the the top-scorer in the KVAC. Lewis is a junior guard and was third in scoring in the league.

“It makes me want to play my best and show them what I can do and they show me what they have,” Jacques said.

Playing teammates also gives teams a pretty good scouting report on opposing players. Jacques knows what to expect when she plays against Kane, Lewis or Irving while Brinkman knows what to expect against Winslow and Sugars.

“When we talk about what they do in practice, since I’ve played with them, I can give other people insight about them,” Brinkman said. ” If I need to figure out how to get around them, I might try to figure out something I haven’t done before.”

Winslow, a senior forward, has played with Brinkman for two seasons of AAU ball while Sugars, a junior forward, has played with them for one year. Though they won’t be playing against Brinkman, they will play against Brunswick’s standout guard, Julia Champagne, who has also been an AAU teammate.

“We’re friends but when we’re on the court, we’re not thinking about being friends,” Winslow said.

The Dragons gave the Vikings two tough battles during the regular season.  The Vikings won both. Sugars was out with an injury in the first win. Champagne is the driving force for the Dragons. She was the second-leading scorer in the KVAC this season and will be the focus of the Viking defense Friday afternoon.

“It helps when you have an idea what they like to do and how you should play them,” Sugars said.

These players have all shared a great experiences together. They’ve played in a variety of tournament together. They’ve bonded as teammates and confidantes. They’ve followed each other as friends on most days of the year, but this week, they’ll be rivals.

“I definitely want to win but it’s fun to see the great things that they do too,” Kane said. “No matter what, they’re some of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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