Once again, Drew Bonifant failed to do his homework before anointing Cindy Blodgett and the Lawrence girls’ basketball team as the greatest individual and greatest team in Maine (“Center Court Rewind: From 1991-94, the Lawrence girls basketball team carved their place in history,” Feb. 20).

Blodgett and Lawrence’s four-year dominance of the state’s Class A basketball scene cannot be denied as extraordinary. However, to diminish and fail to point out the accomplishments of the Westbrook girls’ four-year sweep from 1978-81 is a dishonor to that program.

In southern Maine, the most populous area of the state, Westbrook remains the benchmark of girls’ basketball excellence. Lisa Blais Manning was Cindy Blodgett before there was a Cindy Blodgett.

Manning, a 5-foot-10 guard, led Westbrook in scoring and rebounding for four years, including a 70-game win streak to conclude her career. Manning was more than a basketball player, winning state Class A field hockey and softball championships as a senior.

Her college basketball career was pretty good, too. A four-year starter at Old Dominion, Manning captained the 1985 Monarchs to a 31-3 record as a senior and defeated Georgia in overtime to win the Division I NCAA Championship.

Quoting Mike McGee, the former Lawrence boys’ coach, that Blodgett “is the best basketball player to ever play in the state of Maine, hands down. Male or female’’ would be more believable if McGee was not a teacher at Blodgett’s school. McGee won two state Class A championships and knows basketball and his opinion may be valid. The problem is his opinion is biased.

Blodgett was the best player of her era. Down in the Portland area, Lisa Blais Manning is known as the best female “athlete” ever to play high school team sports in Maine and also won a national basketball championship.

That deserves at least a mention.

 

Jerry Lauzon

Winthrop

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