AUGUSTA — On the rare occasion that his shot was not falling, Liam Stokes didn’t get discouraged. It just made him more determined to find another way to impact the game.
“I was going to get involved, no matter what,” he said.
A multi-talented guard, the Cony senior had a lot of options to get involved in a game. Whether it was setting up his teammates or creating havoc at the defensive end, Stokes found a way. The Rams usually followed his lead, all the way to their first trip to tournament basketball at the Augusta Civic Center in five years.
For his all-around excellence, consistency and leadership in returning Cony to contention in Eastern Class A, Stokes is the 2014-15 Kennebec Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Stokes usually produced his fair share of points and then some in Cony’s fast-paced run-and-gun offense. The fewest points he scored in a game all season was 12. He had one other game with 13 points. The remaining 17 games he poured in 15 or more.
Maines saw a stronger and more confident Stokes long before the season started.
“Last summer, he had a great summer,” Maines said. “He shot the ball better. He got to the rim more. He played great from the beginning to end. From summertime to the end of the season, it was clear he was our best player.”
Stokes nearly doubled his 3-point shooting percentage — a crucial tweak in a Cony offense that shot 3-pointers like they were about to be abolished — hitting nearly 40 percent. But he wasn’t just a catch-and-shoot scorer. He could take the ball to the basket with strength and authority, too.
“He really put the time in to get better. He put the work in the weight room and I think it really gave him a lot of confidence,” Maines said.
As part of a large, talented senior core, Stokes led by example more than vocally. But his teammates took notice.
“I tried to set the tone, working in the off-season and trying to get better,” he said. “I think a lot of the underclassmen followed. All of the senior leaders worked hard in their own role.”
He averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while earning Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A first-team, all-star honors. Defensively, he was the glue for Cony’s full-court pressure scheme after becoming more versed in the principles of the system while playing for Maines’ father, legendary coach Tom Maines, during AAU basketball.
The Rams reversed their record from last year to 11-7 and clinched a quarterfinal appearance. Even though it was a long road back to the Civic Center, the ending seemed premature, as the Rams got routed by Lewiston in a Monday morning game.
But as the sting of that loss has faded with time, Stokes has gained perspective. He currently plans to enroll at the University of Maine next fall, which likely will end his basketball career. So the highlight of his last official season on the hardwood would be helping to revive Cony basketball.
“Our first goal was to get to the Civic Center and we’d set new goals after that,” he said. “We didn’t play well in that game, but when you saw the amount of fans that showed up at a 9 a.m. game, I think it was about the team. We got back to the Civic Center. We wanted to because it was in our city, and the support was out there.”
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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