The Maine Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 2025 class of inductees, which includes 12 individuals, one team, six “Legends of the Game” and an influential summer camp.
This year’s induction will be Aug. 10 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The inductees are:
• Brianna Blanchard: A 2000 Presque Isle graduate who scored more than 1,500 points and helped the Wildcats win the 1997 Class A championship, she then was a three-time all-conference player at NCAA Division II St. Anselm, scoring 1,216 points and grabbing more than 400 points.
• Clayton Blood: A 1,000-point scorer for Searsport in the 1970s who helped the Vikings win a 1976 Class C regional title, Blood also was an NAIA All-District honoree in 1979 and ’80 at UMaine-Farmington, and he earned 217 wins as a high school coach at Mexico, Belfast, Hermon and Brewer.
• Bob Brewer: A standout at Rockland High who later coached at Cheverus for 26 years, Brewer won 323 games, three state championships and seven SMAA titles.
• Paul Butler: After a standout career at Bangor, Butler was a four-year starter at Colby, scoring 957 points and grabbing 760 rebounds, and earning the ECAC New England Player of the Year award in 1993.
• Brianna Fecteau: She scored more than 1,500 points for Westbrook and led the Blue Blazes to multiple state final appearances. After high school, she was the captain for three Bentley College teams that reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight (1997-99), then played professionally in Holland. She spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Harvard and was the head coach at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.
• Chris Funk: A standout at Caribou High and Husson University, Funk scored more than 1,500 points and grabbed 660 rebounds in college and was named an NAIA All-American and the Maine Writers College Player of the Year in 1999. He also played professionally in Germany.
• Ruth Gagnon-Shaw: After helping Schenck reach the Class B tournament in each of her four seasons, she had a hall of fame college career at the University of New England. She scored more than 1,300 points for the Nor’easter and averaged 20.5 points, which is still a school record. She was named first-team all-conference and team MVP three straight seasons.
• Bob Lahey: Lahey followed a stellar career at Lewiston High in the 1950s with a record-setting college career in Canada. At St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he scored 60 points in a game in 1964, and as a senior he led the nation in scoring with a 31.8 points-per-game average, and was named the top player in the country by the Canadian Intercollegiate News.
• Todd Miranda: He led Portland to the Class A title in 1986, then became a prolific player at the University of Southern Maine. He scored more than 1,000 points and dished out more than 500 assists , helping the Huskies reach the NCAA Division III Final Four.
• Nick Pelotte: The Bingham native led Valley High to four straight undefeated state championships seasons from 1998-2001. He moved on to play at Plymouth State and finished second on the program’s career scoring list with 2,111 points. As a senior, he ranked third in NCAA Division III with an average of 28.1 points per game.
• Dave Poulin: The Winthrop native coached his hometown school for 22 seasons, reaching the state tournament 21 times, earning 324 wins, and leading the Ramblers to back-to-back Class C state championships in 1992-93.
• Ken Whitney: He averaged 29.5 points as a senior at Bridgton High in 1962, then played at the University of Connecticut, where he was a member of the first team from New England to reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. He also coached at Bridgton and Lake Region, leading the Lakers to the 1985 Class B championship.
• 1976 Rumford Panthers: The Panthers went unbeaten in the regular season and beat Lawrence in the Class A state championship game. Coach John Shaw, a 2022 Maine Basketball Hall of Famer, then led Rumford to the New England championship in Durham, New Hampshire. The team averaged 83 points per game while allowing only 48 points per game.
Legends of the Game
• Dan Costigan: A three-sport star at Cheverus who led the Stags to the 1981 and 1982 Class A titles, Costigan then competed for UMaine in basketball, football and track and field. He has coached at Scarborough, Cheverus and the University of Maine.
• Pam Hennessey: An Augusta native who played for the University of Maine during the era of 6-on-6 and three-dribble limit women’s basketball, she graduated in 1966 and spent 38 years at Husson College, coaching women’s basketball and softball and serving as Director of Women’s Athletics and co-Director of Athletics. She also was a high school basketball official for 17 years, including the first girls Class A state final.
• Charlie Katsiaficas: He coached the Ellsworth boys for five seasons, leading the Eagles to consecutive undefeated seasons and Class L championships. He then became a respected official.
• Cyndi Meserve-Bona: She led Livermore Falls to four straight Mountain Valley Conference titles and scored more than 1,000 points. After high school, she attended the Pratt Institute in New York City, where she made national news for being the first woman to play on a men’s NCAA varsity basketball team.
• Lowell Osgood: After starring at Higgins Classical Institute in Charleston, he played four years of football, basketball and baseball at the University of Maine, then embarked on a coaching career that spanned 27 years and included high school and college stops. He led Greenville to the 1954 state championship.
• Ben Palubinskas: A key member of Lewiston’s 1960 undefeated Class L state championship team that played in the New England tournament at the Boston Garden, he later coached the Westbrook girls for 17 seasons, going 261-86 and winning four Western Maine titles.
Profound Impact Award
Pine Tree Clinic Basketball Camp: A training ground for players and coaches from 1974 through 2011, first at Thomas College and then at Colby, the camp became known as one of the top teaching camps in the Northeast.
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