Former Hall-Dale standout Cameron Brown will have his No. 34 jersey retired in a ceremony prior to Monday night’s game against  Winthrop at Hall-Dale High School.

Brown scored 1,215 points during his varsity career and led the Bulldogs to the Class C state championship in 1974. He went on to a successful career at the University of Maine at Farmington where he led the nation in scoring in Division III his senior year and was the subject of a Sports Illustrated story by Peter Gammons.

Brown was a 6-foot-4 shooting forward who could post up as well as play away from the basket.

“He jumped right into the starting lineup as a sophomore,” former Hall-Dale coach Gary Barrett said. “He was really an outstanding shooter and an outstanding rebounder.”

Brown averaged 23 points a game his senior year on a state title team that included starters Dick Batchelder, Don Albert, Bob Webster and Mike Wheelock. He was named most valuable player in the Western Maine tournament and scored 22 points in the state title win against Shead despite being in foul trouble.

“He had pretty good ballhandling skills,” Barrett said. “I’d use him at mid-court when teams wanted to press.”

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Brown is one of five male players at Hall-Dale to have scored over 1,000 points. The others include Brad Moore, Scott Woodside, Matt Wheelock and Ryan Leach.

 He will also be the fourth Hall-Dale player whose jersey is retired along with Moore, Rachel Bouchard  and Caitlyn Laflin. Moore’s basketball exploits slipped through the cracks according to Hall-Dale athletic director Tim Johnson.

“It wouldn’t have happened if not for the efforts of Tim and Linda Leet,” Johnson said.

Linda Leet is a current school board member while Tim is a former member.

• • •

Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy expects to have Aaron Toman in the lineup for tonight’s game at Nokomis.

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Toman missed Monday’s game against Leavitt with a sprained ankle. The Tigers played well in the senior center’s absence, knocking off the 8-2 Hornets, 61-56. Junior Tyler Jamison took up a lot of the scoring slack with 19 points while senior Matt Hall and Alonzo Connor picked up the rebounding and defensive pressure.

The 6-foot-2 Jamison gives Gardiner a versatile player off the bench.

“He can play post for us if he has to,” Cassidy said. “(He’s) our third leading scorer, he goes under the radar for us.”

Gardiner (10-1) preceded the Leavitt victory with an impressive wins against Camden Hills at home. They’ll be tested tonight against Nokomis (8-2), a team that has dropped games to Winslow and Camden Hills.

“They’re a legit 8-2 ballclub,” Cassidy said. “They’ve played everyone tough.”

 The Warriors, coached by Carl Parker, have a good combination of size in 6-6 Andrew Cartwright and 6-8 Will Cartwright and scorers in Ethan Pearl and Spencer Hartsgrove

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“This is a tough matchup for us,” Cassidy said. “Especially going up there. It would put us in a nice spot if we can win.”

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Maranacook needs a win tonight at home against Winslow. Because of injuries and academic ineligibility, the Black Bears have had a number of different starting lineups.

“It’s been one thing after another this year,” Maranacook coach Rob Schmidt said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Maranacook is 4-7 and holding down the 12th and final tournament spot in Western Maine Class B. Winslow is 6-5 and in ninth place in Eastern B.

Schmidt said slowing Winslow guards Justin Murray and Trevor Lovely are the keys to the game.

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“We need a win for some Heal points, we need a win for our confidence, we need a win for a lot of reasons,” he said.

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Erskine has played well in spurts this season but is still looking for a signature win. The biggest win of the season so far for the Eagles was against Cony.

Both teams are 4-7 heading into tonight’s games, but the Rams sit higher in the Eastern Maine Class A tournament standings, in eighth place, while the Eagles are on the outside looking in at the No. 11 spot. The top nine teams qualify for at least a prelim game.

“We’re really playing well in spots,” Erskine coach Ben Willoughby said.  “We just can’t seem to put four quarters together.”

The Eagles nearly pulled out a win against Bangor last week but couldn’t hold a lead down the stretch as center Patrick Stewart hit a pair of pull-up jumpers to put the Rams in the lead. Erskine lost, 42-39.

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“They play the best man-to-man halfcourt defense we see,” Willoughby said. “We didn’t have anybody that could stop the Stewart kid. He had 22 of their 42 points.”

The Eagles have been getting strong play from junior point guard Devin Duncan who is averaging 13 points a game and has led the team in scoring over the last six.

“He’s fearless,” Willoughby said. “He’s only 5-foot-6, maybe 120 pounds. He’s a tough matchup because he can shoot and he can go by.”

Duncan even had a block from behind this season against 6-8 Hampden center Fred Knight.

The Eagles host Messalonskee tonight then have some point-worthy games against Lewiston and Edward Little. They finish the season against Cony in a game that could decide a tournament spot.

“I’m very happy,” Willoughby said. “All I can ask for is a little more luck. The kids are upbeat. Their mood is good, being this competitive and playing really good teams well.”

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com


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