Cony senior Indiya Clarke dribbles during a basketball game against Gardiner on Friday in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
The past two seasons have been a period of adjustment for basketball teams and players. Few, though, have faced a change like Cony’s Indiya Clarke.
The senior played her freshman through junior years at Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska before moving more than 3,000 miles east to Augusta for her final year. Now a starting center for the Rams, Clarke said she’s enjoyed her transition to her new school and community.
“It’s been great. The girls are amazing,” Clarke said. “I’ve been with them for less than five months, and they already are family. They’ve made the transition so easy, and I love every one of them.”
On the court, Clarke’s addition has elevated Cony to status as a Class A North contender. The 5-11 forward was a first-team selection in Alaska’s 4A class, the largest in the state, and her play got the attention of Division I coaches and landed her a scholarship with Wofford College in South Carolina.
Since arriving in Maine, Clarke has felt the drive to make her one year at Cony count.
“Going into it, I did have the mindset of ‘I already have my future set for me, I don’t need to worry about high school,’ ” she said. “But as soon as I got here, I realized that these are the girls I want to go win a state championship with. So that’s our goal. And I think we can get there.”
In her debut Friday against Gardiner, Clarke showed her skills on both ends of the court. She shook off a slow start to total 18 points and nine rebounds and fuel the Rams’ second-half comeback effort as they turned a 20-point hole into a seven-point deficit late in the third. She also drew the unenviable task of going one-on-one with Lizzy Gruber, and the two standouts’ physical battle throughout the night provided a game within the game.
“Lizzy and I are friends, we played together this summer. We talked about it before the game, and we just knew that it was going to be a competition on both ends for both of us,” Clarke said. “She did good on me, and I think I did pretty decent on her the entire game.”
Gruber gave Clarke praise after the game.
“She’s an incredible athlete,” Gruber said. “Going head to head with her was amazing. … She’s physically a beast. That was really fun, playing against someone who has so much strength and who knows so much about basketball. She has a really high IQ.”
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While many of the state’s teams got going Friday night, the Oak Hill boys had to wait.
A threat made against the middle school caused the Raiders’ game with Carrabec to be postponed to this Saturday, and Oak Hill instead opened up Monday with a 52-49 victory over Mt. Abram. Jackson Arbour led the Raiders with 16 points, while Caden Thompson added nine.
With Oak Hill having not practiced since the previous Thursday, coach Tom Smith wasn’t sure how Monday would go.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “We just came out and played basically a 3-2 zone, made them shoot from the outside (and) we made some shots. Jackson Arbour made like four out of his first five 3-pointers, and that got us off on the right foot. From there, we really didn’t look back.”
Arbour and Thompson, both forwards, combine with point guard D’andre Daniels to give the Raiders a strong senior trio. Ramon Spearman, the team’s second-leading scorer a season ago, has been unavailable for the start of the season but is expected back by Friday.
With those players in place, Smith expects this to be a competitive bunch in the Mountain Valley Conference this season.
“This team has progressed. We lost a lot with Gavin (Rawstron graduating), for four years he’s been the focal point,” Smith said. “But I think this team learned from him how to lead, score when they need to, pass when they need to. … I think we’re underestimated. If these guys play as hard as they did (Monday) night, it is going to be a very good season for us.”
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Cony’s Dom Napolitano, left, (14) tries to get around Gardiner’s Ryan Moore (24) during a basketball game Saturday in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
There has been a familiar face on the sidelines at Cony boys practices and games.
Longtime girls coach and former Cony athletic director Paul Vachon has been working as an assistant with the boys team, marking the seven-time state champion’s return to a high school basketball coaching role.
Head coach T.J. Maines said he’s had an offer extended to Vachon to help out for the past few seasons.
“I told him three years ago. ‘Whenever you’re ready, let me know,’ ” Maines said. “And this year, he was like ‘All right.’ Last year, I thought he was going to do it full-time, and he just couldn’t because of COVID. He feels more comfortable with COVID, and he has the time.”
Vachon isn’t officially on the staff, but Maines said he’s been a consistent presence at practices. He was on the sideline for the team’s opener against Gardiner on Saturday.
“Coach is coming to practice, he’s not familiar with what we’re doing offensively, so he’s trying to pick that stuff up,” said Maines, whose three-time champion father, Tom, has also assisted practices. “He’s an unbelievable motivator, he gives us some pearls of wisdom. It’s great to have a legend like that kind of there to help out.”
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A marquee matchup is shaping up for the start of next week.
The Nokomis and Skowhegan boys basketball teams, which ranked first and second, respectively, in the preseason Class A North coaches’ poll, will meet Monday night at Skowhegan at 7 p.m. Skowhegan began its season with a 55-49 loss to Brewer, another A North favorite, while Nokomis opened with Bangor on Tuesday night.
Nokomis’ next game will be at Brewer on Friday at 6 p.m.
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