This the Way the Year Ends

One of the many questions of the early season has been in A South (boys and girls). Both regions are loaded with talent, both individual and team. You could argue that there's 4 contenders among the ladies and 7(?) from the boys.

One of them, of course, is Windham, your 2-time defending state champions who are off to a 6-1 start with the lone loss coming against a very good Sanford team. They've also got two players in the Mr. Basketball conversation, Tyrie James and AJ Moody. It's not easy to get 2 players on the semi-finalist list, but I'm not sure you can tell the story of the last 3 years of Maine high school basketball without either of them. Odds are only one of them makes it, but they both deserve the recognition. With nomination ballots due earlier this week (why so early?), it might be too late for either of them to make a case, but no one told them that.

Against Massabesic, Tyrie James scored 24, AJ Moody added 20 and 6 assists, and the Eagles raced out to a 51-10 halftime lead en route to a 101-31 demolition.

They're now 6-1 in that loaded A South.

I'm not sure where you want to draw the contender line here. Portland?

Some people (ok, me) have been known to refer to the Camden boys team as "Nolan Ames and Friends". It's a lazy joke, especially if you've seen Camden play and learn that there's more to Camden than Nolan Ames. There's, for example, Hollis Schwalm.

CUT TO:

This is the dead land.

Mount Blue is not the best team Camden will play this season, but last night might have been one of their biggest tests. With Ames and Schwalm in foul trouble (Ames picked up his 4th in the third quarter), one of the Others would have to step up and shoulder the scoring load.

[And I don't mean "the Others" in a LOST or Plur1bus way. Also you should be watching Plur1bus. It's awesome.]

Or they could go the other way and hold Mount Blue without a field goal in the second quarter. That also works.

Despite the foul trouble, Ames still managed to score 22 points. Tucker Whitley added 13 & 6 boards. And the Windjammers escaped with a convincing win to stay perfect at 7-0.

Mike Mandell was there.

Camden Hills boys basketball rides defense past Mt. Blue

The Windjammers improve to 7-0, defeating another top Class A North opponent.

The Portland Press HeraldMike MandellStaff Writer

Sometimes the others show up on the defensive end, but sometimes they make some big buckets.

Let's go to Scarborough!

Portland's defense held Adam Fitzgerald to 18 points, but they weren't counting on junior Carter Ryan coming off the bench to knock down 9(!) threes for a career-high 27 points. The Red Storm used a 30-13 run to put away the Bulldogs.

Michael Hoffer was there.

Sharpshooting super sub sparks Scarborough past Portland

SCARBOROUGH—The scouting report for opponents of Scarborough’s boys’ basketball team is to limit the damage that can be done by senior standouts and captains Carter Blanche and Adam Fitzgerald. And the visiting Portland Bulldogs made that their number one goal Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium, holding that dynamic tandem

Hoffer's High School SportsMichael Hoffer

Elsewhere

Rebecca Balmas scored 22 to lead Hermon to their 5th straight win...Julius Searles had 21 points as Biddeford got in the win column...Gavin Fanjoy scored 22 in Erskine's win over Lawrence...Jaxson Desjardins had 24 as Forest Hills made short work of Greenville...Kylie Lamson had 18 in Cheverus' win over Noble. She's 38 from 1,000...Dirigo's Abigail Luczynski and Emma Witas each outscored Richmond...Morgan Daigle had 22 in Forest Hills' win over Greenville...Leavitt's Jacob Gibbs scored 15 second half points to break open a close game with Winslow...Down 11 at the half, Mount Abram forced overtime and won in the extra period behind Brennan Mitchell's 28 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots...Jackson Barry scored 17 in Ellsworth's win over Old Town...Down 6, Dexter closed with a 13-0 run to knock off Penquis Valley...Cam Pulkkinen dropped 31 on Mt. Ararat...Carter Giroux (18) was one of 5 Sanford players in double figures as they cruised past Gorham...Maddie Provost went for 30 in Lawrence's win over Erskine. She's scored 71 points in her last 2 games. Ashley Shores added 25...Cali LeClair (18) was one of 4 players in double figures as Mt. Ararat rolled...After trailing 2-1 after the first quarter, Oak Hill exploded for 61 points the rest of the way in a blowout of Boothbay. Grace Lough had 19...Mollie Puffer had 20 in Sanford's win over Gorham...Sienna Eldred led TA with 19 against Falmouth...Ava Bolden had 16 in Westbrook's win over Bonny Eagle...Darius Johnson went off for 17 & 18 in SoPo's win over Deering...Telstar's Connor Deprey dropped 24 on Carrabec...Down 9-0, Westbrook went on a 30-8 run fueled by Gio Staples' 19 points...The Nokomis girls found themselves in a 18-0 hole but came all the way back, only to fall to Cony...Simon Gellis had 22 in TA's win over Falmouth...Ben Woodworth had 21 in Central Aroostook's win over Wisdom...Rylee Moulton went off for 28 in Penobscot Valley's blowout of Woodland. She's on pace to get to 1,000 in their next game...Taylor Madden had 26 as Old Town made a statement with a definitive win over Ellsworth in the Game of the Day...Ava Lerman dropped 30 on Central Aroostook.

Longtime Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero won his 400th career game last night with a W over Greenville.

Congrats!

It's a pretty short schedule for this, the final day of 2025. But, if the Stax Index is to be believed, we might finish with some fireworks at the end of the night.

All of the Monday Capital City Classic games at the ACC got moved to Wednesday, filling out what's normally a very sparse slate. There's a couple of interesting games, but the clear winner is the Marancook/Spruce Mountain double-header that finishes the year.

If you read this newsletter, you don't need me to tell you Maranacook vs. Spruce Mountain is going to be a good game, but let's go round the prickly pear anyway.

The Spruce Mountain boys, who I think would be a top 4 seed if they were still in B South, are 4-2 with those 2 losses coming by a combined 5 points to #20 Mount Abram and #27 Hall-Dale, both on the road. They're 9th in the state in scoring defense (1st in Class C) and 3rd in Class C against teams in the top 25. That was all without Cai Dougher, who I took in the Mr./Miss Basketball draft and missed the first 5 games of the season.

In this, the Year of the Freshmen, Maranacook has one of standouts in Gage Mattson. Paired with Jack Fontaine, they're 3rd in C South in scoring offense and first in Class C against the Top 25.

These teams played on December 18th, a game Spruce won with their defense, holding Mattson to 2 points.

The one thing that makes me question the Model is the Dougher factor. It doesn't know he missed the first 5 games. But I've also seen this Maranacook team in person and they can definitely light it up.

We're about to find out how 2025 ends, with a bang or a whimper?

The rest of the Model's picks for today's games are after the jump.