It started with the first game of the first day. The 2012 Maine high school basketball tournament should go down as the tournament in which no lead was safe.

On that Friday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center, the Skowhegan girls basketball team trailed Mt. Blue by 17 points at halftime. The Indians rallied to take a 56-55 win.

One week later, the Cony girls trailed Edward Little 30-19 at the half of the Eastern A championship game. The Rams outscored the Red Eddies 25-11 in the second half to earn the win.

Last Saturday, the Forest Hills boys one-upped their Somerset County counterparts. Down 19 points late in the third quarter, the Tigers came back to beat Hyde, 61-60.

This year, leads in the tournament were pies on windowsills. There was a lot of parity in Maine high school basketball this season. A lot of good teams, but few great ones.

That doesn’t mean, however, there were no great individual performances. Here are a few of the players who shined in the 2012 tournament, in no particular order.

* Evan Worster, Forest Hills. Worster scored a Western D record 104 points in three games during the regional tournament, including a single-game record 51 in an 88-37 win over A.R. Gould in the quarterfinals. Worster accounted for 51.2 percent of the Tigers’ scoring in the regional tournament, leading Forest Hills to the state championship game for the first time.

More important than his offensive effort, Worster helped keep a young team composed, particularly in the second half of the Hyde game. Facing a 19-point deficit, it would be easy for a team that starts three freshmen to pack it in, file the game in the experience column, and get ready to come back next year. Worster was a big reason the Tigers didn’t fold.

* Mia Diplock, Cony. A Miss Maine Basketball finalist, Diplock averaged just over 20 points per game in the regional tournament, but Cony fans will remember her for the last six. Diplock scored the last six points for the Rams, helping them complete the comeback and reach the state final for the first time since 2007.

* Jake Palmer, Gardiner. When Medomak Valley focused its defense on Gardiner’s inside scoring threat, Aaron Toman, Palmer stepped up and had the best game of the Eastern B boys tournament.

Palmer scored 33 points, including an 11 for 11 effort at the foul line (10 for 10 in the fourth quarter). Palmer’s prowess at the line enabled the Tigers to pull away with a 57-46 win over the Panthers. He added 23 points in Gardiner’s 70-58 win over previously undefeated Mt. Desert Island in the regional final.

* Jamie Plummer, Richmond. In the Western D girls tournament, Plummer averaged 16.7 points and 11 rebounds. In the final win over Rangeley, Plummer scored 21 points, grabbed 13 boards and blocked five shots.

In Saturday’s state championship game loss to Washburn, Plummer proved her worth on the boards again, pulling down 20 rebounds.

* Carylanne Wolfington, Hall-Dale. Wolfington scored her 1,000th career point in Hall-Dale’s quarterfinal win over St. Dominic, and averaged 19.3 points per game in the Western C girls tournament.

In the 43-36 win over Waynflete, Wolfington scored 13 of her 16 points in the second half, helping to ensure the defending state champs a return trip to the title game.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com