STACYVILLE, Maine — Southern Aroostook senior Makaelyn Porter joined the elite 1,000-point scoring club Tuesday as the Warriors knocked off previously unbeaten Katahdin 73-19.
Porter, the daughter of Jon and Jess Porter of Smyrna Mills, needed 12 points coming into the game, but by her own admittance, was completely oblivious to that fact.
“I had a few suspicions,” Porter said. “When I saw my whole family here, and my trainer too, I knew something was up and that I had to be close. I still wasn’t sure exactly how many I needed.”
The talented senior athlete, who has committed to playing basketball at Husson University next winter, reached the coveted milestone with a 3-pointer from the left-hand side of the court with 6:07 to play in the third quarter of Tuesday’s contest.
Reaching the scoring mark has been a goal for Porter since she began playing basketball with the varsity squad as an eighth-grader back in 2015. Schools with fewer than 60 boys or girls are able to play varsity basketball as eighth-graders per Maine Principal Association rules.
“It was nice to get it done tonight, so now I can just keep playing and focus on winning another gold ball,” she said.
Southern Aroostook is the two-time defending Class D state champion and one of the clear favorites to repeat this winter. Porter becomes the 20th athlete at Southern Aroostook Community School to join the 1,000-point club.
Kathadin’s Lily Cullen, right, tries to pass the ball around Maddie Russell, left, and Emma Nadeau of Southern Aroostook during a Tuesday, Dec. 17, game in Stacyville. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
“Makaelyn has 1,000 points, but she could have easily had a lot more,” coach Cliff Urquhart said. “She is such an unselfish player that she has not always taken the shot, even when it was there. We are tremendously proud of her and all the hard work she has put into basketball. She plays a lot and it shows.”
Last season, Sydney Brewer scored her 1,000th point in the Warriors’ state championship game against Greenville. Other schoolgirl athletes who reached the scoring plateau are Jill Mathers and Jessica Walker (both in 1994); Jody Brown (1995); Janna Walker (1997); Kristi Brooker (2002); Audrey Charette (2006); and Sable Altvater (2014).
In a highly touted matchup of two unbeaten squads, Southern Aroostook (4-0) dominated from the onset scoring eight straight points to begin the game and never looked back.
Porter led the Warriors with 15 points on the evening, while Kacy Daggett added 14, Paige Vose and Emma Nadeau both had 10, Emmalee Landry, Maddie Russell, Lexi Rackliff, Madison Shields and Cami Shields all had four points each and Bre Daggett and Callie Russel both had two.
“Our half-court, man-to-man defense was great tonight,” Coach Urquhart said. “We did a good job with their rotations and we did a nice job in the post with rebounding.”
For Katahdin (3-1), Lily Cullen had six points, Makayla Hartsgrove added four, Emily Beyer, Dee Libby and Autumn McGraw each had three.
