WINSLOW — A win over a strong Presque Isle team provided the ideal start to the season for Winslow boys’ basketball.

In beating the Wildcats, the Black Raiders also saw Jason Reynolds close in on a career milestone.

Reynolds scored 38 points and secured 17 rebounds in a 64-55 victory Saturday afternoon. The effort moved the senior within 36 points of 1,000 for his career, an achievement he can reach as soon as Tuesday night against Maine Central Institute.

Reynolds has been a key player for Winslow since his freshman year, when he emerged as one of the team’s top threats alongside Colby Pomeroy, who finished shy of 1,000 career points at 998. Last year, he was an All-KVAC first-teamer as he helped guide Winslow to a 13-6 record.

“Outside his basketball skills, which are obviously very good, he has an outstanding work ethic,” said Winslow head coach Ken Lindlof. “He has a great dedication to making himself a better player that really sets him apart, and he also works hard at making his teammates around him better.”

In addition to Reynolds’ 17 boards, Matt Quirion had eight rebounds, and Braden Rodrigue added six. That was a welcome sign for Lindlof, whose team doesn’t have quite the size it did a year ago with 2021-22’s leading rebounder, Antoine Akoa, having graduated.

Although there were some nervy moments early for Winslow, the Black Raiders ultimately settled down and played some of their cleanest basketball down the stretch as they avoided turnovers. Andrew Poulin made some clutch shots for the home team and finished with 19 points.

“I think we were really excited early on, and maybe we were getting a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Lindlof said. “It’s early-season basketball, and it’s not always going to be pretty, but we made a great effort throughout the game, which is the most important thing.”

With another monster scoring effort, Reynolds could reach the 1,000-point mark at home Tuesday evening against Maine Central Institute (0-1). He could also do so Friday when the Black Raiders head on the road to take on Belfast.

Reynolds would become the Winslow boys’ first 1,000-point scorer since Trevor Lovely reached the milestone in 2014 and the first Winslow player overall since Heather Kervin did it for the girls in 2017.

 

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It might be easy to overlook the Lawrence girls with what else is happening in Class A North, but opponents that aren’t prepared for the Bulldogs this season are in for a rude awkening.

Skowhegan, of course, is the reigning state champ, and with the River Hawks’ Jaycie Christopher having graduated, Gardiner is the team with the Division I-bound standout in Lizzy Gruber. Yet, as Lawrence showed in the second half of a 55-22 win over Erskine Academy on Saturday, the Bulldogs are as dangerous as anyone when clicking.

Lawrence outscored Erskine 40-10 in the second half after leading  just 15-12 at halftime. The Bulldogs did it through improved ball movement that generated open looks, which they buried to turn what had been a tight battle into a rout.

“We got good looks in the first half, but we were a little nervous and a little tense,” said Lawrence head coach Greg Chesley. “We needed to turn those good shots into great shots, and we just started moving the ball a little bit better, and when we got a little bit more of an open shot, they started falling.”

Defense has long been a calling card for Lawrence, and that was definitely the case to open the season as the Bulldogs stayed in front despite the sluggish offensive start. The team forced Erskine into 39 turnovers in holding the Eagles to the 22 points, the fewest allowed by a Lawrence team since Jan. 4, 2017 — also against Erskine.

Guard Hope Bouchard, an All-KVAC first-teamer a year ago, is the leading returnee for Lawrence, which also brings back fellow seniors Ali Higgins and MaKenzie Nadeau at the position. The Bulldogs are just as deep at forward with Liz Crommett (5-foot-9), Bri Poulin (5-11) and Lilly Gray and Nadia Morrison (both 6 feet) giving the team plenty of size.

“We’re a pretty balanced team all around,” Crommett said. “We’re all not the same; we all bring something different to the team that helps us win. That’s why we work so well together, and that’s why we were able to come back in the second half and score 40 points.”

Tomorrow, Crommett, Higgins and Poulin will all sign to play college basketball at the University of Maine at Augusta. That’s music to the ears of their head coach, who is the No. 5 all-time scorer for the men’s program with 1,275 career points.

“I’m really happy for them,” Chesley said. “Coach (Heath) Cowan has done a great job of building that program, and it’s a great opportunity for them to go to the next level and play some quality basketball.”

 

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The capacities may have varied, but Ray Convery has been a staple of Winthrop girls basketball for some time.

As Ramblers head coach from 1979-2002, Convery established the program as a perennial power with four regional titles and a Gold Ball in 1990. He later returned for a brief stint as head coach from 2008-11 and was an assistant in 2020 when Winthrop brought home the second state championship in program history.

After this Friday, Convery’s name will be forever associated — formally — with the hardwood at Winthrop High School. The school plans to dedicate the gymnasium floor as Ray Convery Court at David J. Poulin Gymnasium at halftime of the girls basketball game against Mountain Valley.

In his first stint as Winthrop head coach, Convery won more than 300 games and qualified for the Western Maine tournament in 22 of his 23 seasons at the helm. He went 29-28 in his second spell before stepping down following the Ramblers’ 2010-11 campaign.

Winthrop’s current head coach, John Baehr, credited Convery with building the foundation of the program. During his first two years as an assistant with the boys team under head coach Todd MacArthur, Baehr used Convery as a source of insight as the boys and girls traveled together for Mountain Valley Conference matchups.

“We would play tripleheaders at the time, so we traveled together, and it was great to be able to pick his brain a little bit,” Baehr said. “Those teams of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s were historic. The culture of great basketball here and being able to compete for state championships, it’s all because of him.”

Convery’s signature is already in two corners of the hardwood floor at Poulin Gymnasium, which was named for the longtime boys head coach in January. The text “Welcome to Ray Convery Court” will also be unveiled on the gym floor as part of the dedication.

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