Cony’s Morgan Cunningham drives toward the basket during the Class A girls basketball championship game. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
The 2023-24 girls basketball season was highlighted by a return to the top for a program that had not seen a regional title in 12 years.
Led by the play of Morgan Fichthorn, Cony beat defending Class A champion Lawrence 54-46 to win the A North championship on Feb. 23 at the Augusta Civic Center. It was the first regional title for the Rams since 2012. Fichthorn, a junior, had a double-double, scoring 16 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Cony (14-7) fell short of capturing a state title, falling 54-30 to Brunswick.
“I’m super proud of them,” Cony head coach John Dennett said. “We battled some adversity throughout the year. We only played six girls (during games), we only finished with nine on our bench by the end of the year. We never scrimmaged 5-on-5. Those girls just worked and worked themselves. They’ve been playing together for a long time. We just put it together at the right time of the year and brought home a regional title, the first one in quite a while. It was pretty amazing.”
The Rams were led throughout the season by senior Morgan Cunningham, who averaged 17.2 points per game to lead the team.
“(Cunningham) is just a really good, super-underrated basketball player,” Dennett said. “She had a great tournament, all over the place on the basketball court. A lot of people don’t realize how good she is on the defensive side.”
Junior Abby Morrill averaged 13.9 points per game, along with 9.1 rebounds per game, while Fichthorn went for 11.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Lawrence’s Maddie Provost drives by Camden Hills’ Isabelle DeBrosky during a Class A girls basketball semifinal game on Feb. 21 at the Augusta Civic Center. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
While Lawrence fell one game short of a repeat state final appearance, the Bulldogs (19-2) had another strong season. Sophomore guard Maddie Provost proved to be one of the top players in the state, as she was second in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference in scoring (21.0 ppg), and first in 3-pointers made (61). Lawrence also firmly established its two 6-foot forwards, junior Lilly Gray (12.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and junior Nadia Morrison (7.4 rpg).
“I’m really proud of this year’s team and what the Lawrence girls program has become over the last 10-plus years,” Lawrence head coach Greg Chesley said. “Where pressures are high and expectations are high, that’s a lot for a high school kid to battle through, and to battle all those pressures and expectations and still get to a regional championship, I couldn’t be more proud.
“When we played up-tempo, when we played fast, we’re pretty tough to stop,” Chesley continued. “When you look back and watch the film, we can score in a hurry. We score in bunches… The teams that were able to slow that down or prevent that from happening, like Cony, were successful. With Maddie and our bigs, the others that we had, we could score in a bunch of different ways. Between Lilly Gray and Nadia Morrison, it was almost 20 (points) per game between the two of them. We rebounded well. We did a lot well most of the time.”
In Class B, Maranacook made strides with a young roster. With only one starter entering the year with varsity experience, the Black Bears finished 13-6, reaching the B North quarterfinal round as a No. 3 seed before falling to Mount Desert Island.
Maranacook was led by senior Natalie Mohlar, a Mountain Valley Conference first-team selection.
Hall Dale’s Marie Benoit gets past a Winthrop defender during a Class C South girls basketball quarterfinal game Feb. 20 at the Augusta Civic Center. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
In Class C, Hall-Dale (20-2) won its second regional title in three years. With an unselfish offense — led at the point by senior Hayden Madore — along with a suffocating defense, Hall-Dale beat Madison 49-36 for the Class C South crown on Feb. 24 at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Bulldogs were denied their second Class C title in three years, falling 48-41 to Dexter in the state final on March 2.
“We truly respect Hall-Dale, we know that they’re very good,” Dexter head coach Jody Grant said of Hall-Dale. “They’re athletic, they’ve got good size, they’ve got good guards. They play good defense and they run very good stuff offensively.”
In Class D, Valley (21-1) took yet another step forward as a program, cruising past Waynflete 71-26 to capture the Class D South championship, the first regional title for the Cavaliers since 2009. Valley showed up throughout the season with a strong starting five, led by Madeline Hill, who averaged 22 points per game during the season. Liana Hartwell and Kirsten Bigelow also proved to be consistent contributors throughout the season for the Cavaliers.
Valley lost 60-42 to Southern Aroostook in the Class D final.
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