The Maine Firecrackers didn’t have much time to celebrate their AAU 14U Division II national title together in Orlando, Fla., on Monday. A few team pictures and then many of the victors, including Messalonskee starting point guard Ally Turner, had to scatter.
“A lot of us had to go catch a plane ride back home,” she said.
It was a quick and glorious conclusion for a team which has only been playing together since March but learned quickly how to play with and for each other and ended its season going undefeated, 7-0, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The Firecrackers, made up mostly of girls from southern Maine and coached by Don Briggs, were ranked 14th out of 16 teams in the tournament, which is fairly typical for Maine teams that make it that far.
But it didn’t take long for the Mainers to realize that not only did they belong in the tournament, they could win.
“Our team’s always been based on execution and discipline,” Turner said. “Other teams we see, there are athletes who like to outrun and outjump you. We win games with defense. We’ve been working since March to have a strong defense. (Offensively), we like to run on the fastbreak, but if we don’t, we can pull it back out and score in the half court.”
Maine cruised through three games of pool play, then beat three teams in its bracket to reach the championship game.
Sticking to its sound fundamentals, Maine never trailed in a game until the final, falling behind by four early in the first half to the Playmaker Academy Pumas of New York.
Playmaker Academy tried to rattle the Firecrackers with fullcourt pressure, but they ultimately settled down, suffocated the Pumas with their halfcourt man-to-man, and took a 25-13 lead into halftime.
“That’s where our discipline and tenacity really helped was against their press,” Turner said. “Our coach told us to relax.”
“We have an outstanding coach. We wouldn’t have been able to win without him,” she added.
Fatigue started setting in for Maine in the second half, and the Pumas took advantage to get as close as four. But the Firecrackers regrouped and pulled away for the 49-39 win.
Turner, who will be a sophomore at Messalonskee in the fall, came off the bench for the Firecrackers, playing mostly point guard but also saw some time in the post.
“(Briggs) rotates a lot. Most of the people get lots of playing time and everyone contributes,” Turner said. “We have a very balanced team. We have two point guards, four guards, two of which can play the four or five, and three post players. We really are a very versatile team.”
The Firecrackers jelled quickly, traveling as far away as North Carolina for tournaments, even playing up from their age group in a couple to improve.
“Our team really came together,” Turner said. “All of us are friends and we all love playing together.”
Turner got home early Tuesday morning, then had to get some sleep before driving down to Portland for a practice with the travel lacrosse team she joined recently, the Maineiax.
Whatever fatigue Turner felt was well worth it, she said.
“It was really, really great,” she said. “It’s something the team will always be able to have with them forever. No one will ever be able to take it away from us.”
Other team members were Eva Mazur, Sophie Glidden, McKenzie Holmes, Alex Hart, Alex Goodman, Grace Soucy, Faith Blethen, Emme Poulin and Anna DeWolfe.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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