AUGUSTA — The basketball programs of North Haven, Islesboro and Vinalhaven are familiar with each other, but on Thursday their players got to display their skills on the big stage of the Class S South tournament at the Augusta Civic Center.

In the day’s first quarterfinal, the No. 5 North Haven girls basketball team fell 38-25 to No. 4 Temple Academy (12-7). But the Hawks (8-9), who trailed 23-8 entering the fourth quarter, outscored the Bereans 17-15 in the final quarter. Freshman Elsie Mann had an excellent performance for the Hawks, recording a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

North Haven coach Maddie Hallowell said Mann will be a foundational piece for North Haven, which is graduating three players from its six-person roster.

“She just puts in a lot of effort, and you can tell on the floor all year round,” Hallowell said. “She’s very coachable, she’ll listen to what you say, even if it doesn’t work the first, second or even third time you say it. … She often doesn’t make the same mistake twice, which I think is telling for a basketball player.”

The second game was an boys island showdown between No. 4 Islesboro and No. 5 Vinalhaven. The Eagles (9-8) earned a 55-46 victory over the Vikings (5-12), as senior Harper Conover led Islesboro with 28 points.

Then came the closest game of the day, as the third-seeded Vinalhaven girls (16-3) held off No. 6 Pine Tree Academy (8-11), 43-37. Vikings senior forward Lydia Wentworth had a strong game in the post, scoring 17 points while hauling in 19 rebounds.

“It’s so exciting coming (to Augusta) every year,” Wentworth said. “I tend to be a little nervous, even as a senior, just getting those Civic Center nerves. But after you get on the court, you’re working together, the nerves just go away and you play as a team. It’s just so exciting to do that every year with them and play hard.”

Family time for Islesboro trio

Basketball isn’t just a game for three members of the Islesboro boys basketball team. It’s a family activity.

Josh Conover is the head coach for Islesboro. His two sons, Harper and Finley, were the leading scorers in the win over Vinalhaven. Harper, a senior, scored 28 points, while Finley, a sophomore, added 17.

“My team has kind of become my family,” said Harper Conover. “But to play with my dad and brother, that’s always fun. Life is basketball (for us) for now, from November through February. It’s just an awesome experience.”

“It’s huge,” added Josh Conover. “I like coaching them, probably more than when I started coaching, because that’s why I stepped in, (the program) needed a coach. It’s nice. I’ve got to keep (Harper and Finley) under wraps. I usually never give them any awards because they don’t always deserve it. It is what it is.”

Harper Conover said basketball talk does have an end point: Whenever his mother, Shey, says it’s time to stop.

“My mom tries to settle it if we have a bad game,” Harper Conover said. “My mom lays the law.”

Temple coaches make fashion statement

Temple Academy girls basketball coach Lindsey Beaulieu and her assistant, Alyssa Gammon, decided to add a little flair to their attire for the tournament.

Both wore green sequin blazers during the team’s victory over North Haven. Beaulieu said the inspiration for the fashion choice was North Haven athletic director Laura MacDonald, who wears a blue-sequined blazer to games — including Thursday’s contest.

“(Gammon) found these green sequin jackets for us online and she said, ‘All right, that’s what we’re doing,'” said Beaulieu, who added that the duo will once again wear the jackets when Temple takes on No. 1 Valley in the semifinals.

“They surprised us with that today,” said Bereans guard Maddie Corey, who led the team with 17 points. “I love that, I love that for them.”

Temple flashed some early offense and was tough on defense against the Hawks, going into the fourth quarter with a 23-8 lead.

“We said right from the get-go, ‘We need to go out strong, we need to get the first quarter,’ and (from there) it kept up the momentum of the game,” said Bereans guard Sofia Isgro. “It was really big.”

Bright future for Mbonimpa, Pine Tree

While the season ended for Pine Tree Academy in its loss to Vinalhaven, junior guard Chantal Mbonimpa hit a career milestone, notching her 1,000th career point midway through the fourth quarter.

Mbonimpa celebrated the milestone with her teammates after the game. The Breakers will lose three seniors but have a strong core of returners set for the 2026-27 season.

“We’re graduating two starters, but we’ll have two that will fit right in,” said Pine Tree coach Josh Dayen. “A lot of teams are graduating seniors, we’re graduating fewer, so I think we’ll end up stronger next year, but we’ll see.”