Brandon Nale was a threat to score a goal or create one for a teammate at any given moment this past season.

A junior at Messalonskee High School, Nale led the state in scoring and averaged nearly four points per game in the process. He scored 42 goals and assisted on 37 others in 21 games this past season to bring his career points total to 206 (95 goals, 111 assists).

“He just plays with a really high level of intensity,” Messalonskee coach Joe Hague said. “He thinks positive when he’s out there, sees the ice well and looks for the up-the-ice plays. His skill with being able to transition from our zone to an offensive zone is probably one of the best players I’ve ever seen able to do that.”

Nale — who was a plus-52 when on the ice this past season — was only rivaled in scoring in the state by teammate Jared Cunningham, who collected 74 points (34 goals, 40 assists). There was not another player in the state that broke the 50-point plateau this past season, let alone 70.

“Brandon has a lot of skill and talent,” Hague said. “He comes to practice to work and he does everything he can in games. He has good character, good work ethic and his talent and skills will probably get better with 20 players his caliber next to him,”

For his efforts, Nale has been named the 2015-16 Morning Sentinel Hockey Player of the Year. Waterville Senior High School junior Andrew Roderigue was also considered along with Cunningham.

“I feel like it went awesome for me,” Nale said of this past season. “I feel like I proved a lot and I was happy with the points I put up.”

If the junior forward has any regrets, it was with the way the season ended. In his first two years at Messalonskee, Nale had lost just one game in the Eagles’ march to back-to-back Class B championships. Messalonskee went 11-5-2 during the regular season last winter and lost to eventual state champ Waterville, 5-2, in the Class B North final.

“It was pretty rough at times but we got through it and it was an all-around great season, even though we didn’t make it to the end,” Nale said. “I would have liked to accomplish a little more with a third state title, but other than that, I’m really happy with my high school hockey career.”

The past two seasons, Nale has thrived as a part of Messalonskee’s talented, front-line forwards. He was a key cog alongside Cunningham and Jake Dexter as a sophomore, and this past season formed an equally potent one-two punch with Cunningham.

“It makes it so easy. I love playing with that kid,” Nale said of Cunningham. “We’ve been playing together since we just started skating. We always know where each other are on the ice. It’s so much easier playing with him on my line.”

Though just a junior, Nale’s days of playing at Messalonskee are over. In February he announced his intentions to play for the Islanders Hockey Club (North Andover, Massachusetts) of the United States Premier Hockey League. He will graduate from high school one year early and begin playing with the program’s USP3 team in August.

“I’m so excited,” Nale said. “I’m happy for a new chapter to start in hockey.”

As for the immediate future, Nale just finished up a tournament this past weekend with the Maine Moose 18U team in Amherst, New York. He said he also plans to play in other tournaments over the next few months.

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley