AUGUSTA — Three central Maine boys basketball players are among the 10 semifinalists for Mr. Basketball: Nick Mayo of Messalonskee, Justin Martin of Winslow, and Liam Stokes of Cony.

Of those three names, perhaps only Stokes was not on the average fan’s radar at the beginning of the season.

“I bet he improved more than anybody in the state, from his junior year to his senior year,” Cony coach T.J. Maines said. “Just a model of consistency, a great leader. He gets it done in the classroom.”

Stokes averaged 18 points per game for the Rams, who reached the Eastern Class A semifinals for the first time in five years.

“The whole team was dedicated to just getting better this year, and I think it showed,” Stokes said.

Mayo was Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring, rebounding and blocks. Mayo will play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University next year.

“It’s definitely great being noticed for all the hard work you put in,” Mayo said.

Martin was the KVAC Class B Player of the Year, and led the Black Raiders to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Class B tournament.

The other semifinalists for Mr. Basketball are Ben Mallory (Bonny Eagle), Kyle Johnson (Calais), Ian Mileikis (Edward Little), Lew Jensen (Edward Little), Jack Simonds (Falmouth), Kyle Bouchard (Houlton), and Eric Hoogterp (Old Town).

The 10 semifinalists for Miss Basketball are Mary Butler (Bangor), Cordelia Stewart (Bangor), Madison McVicar (Calais), Maria Valente (Gray-New Gloucester), Ashley Storey (Greely), Hannah Graham (Presque Isle), Ashley Briggs (Scarborough), Victoria Lux (Thornton), Kaitlyn McCrum (Thornton), and Mackenzie Worcester (Washburn).

Three finalists will be announced following the end of the high school basketball tournament. The winners will be announced at the Maine McDonald’s High School Senior All-Star banquet on March 13 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

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Come tournament time free throws can often make the difference between winning and losing — just ask the 2008 NCAA Tournament runner-up, the University of Memphis men’s basketball team.

For the Lawrence girls basketball team, foul shots are a big reason why they will play for the Eastern Class A championship following a 62-52 semifinal win over Brunswick.

“We work on free throws a lot and especially now too, because I think coach knows that getting into the postseason here free throws are really important,” Bulldogs senior Abby Weigang said. “(Wednesday) they really did save us. We do them regularly during practice. We’ll do a few intense drills and then take breaks while we’re tired to shoot free throws. We put a lot of time into it.”

Against the Dragons, Lawrence was 30-of-34 from the free throw line led by a 15-of-16 performance from Nia Irving. Paige Belanger went 7-of-8, Weigang 2-of-4 and Jordyn Towers, Dominique Lewis and Morgan Boudreau were each 2-of-2.

“We led the KVAC as a team in free throw shooting,” Lawrence coach John Donato said. “Paige is an 80 percent shooter, Nia’s a 75, Morgan is a 75, Domi is a 70. As a team we were 74 or 75 percent. Not a guarantee it’s going to happen every day, but we’ve been doing that all year.”

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The feeling of losing in a regional semifinal was foreign to coach Luke Hartwell and virtually all of his Valley players before Wednesday.

That’s why Hartwell wants the sting of Wednesday’s 61-47 loss to third-seeded Hyde, which denied his team a third straight trip to the regional final, to linger with his players well into the offseason, if not longer.

“Down here, losing stinks,” said Hartwell, who was a four-time state champion with Valley, 1999-2002, and never lost a tournament game in Augusta. “As a player, I didn’t experience it much. But as a coach, it’s a different mindset. And like I told the boys, I want it to hurt for them. I said, ‘If it doesn’t, that’s an issue. Remember this in the offseason when you’re playing. That one extra possession, that one extra play is why you need to work on your game in the offseason.’ And I think these kids will.”

If the loss doesn’t provide enough motivation, the wealth of talent and experience the Cavaliers will have next season should make them eager to see how good they can be, Hartwell said.

Valley graduates one player, reserve Gabe Pullen. The starting five consisting of juniors Cody Laweryson, Luke Malloy and Collin Miller, sophomore Austin Cates and freshman Cale Beane should remain intact.

“Everyone’s coming back from the top of my rotation, and we’ve got a strong eighth-grade class coming up,” Hartwell said. “At least there’s an opportunity for them to work hard this offseason, get stronger and do the little things, because that’s what makes a difference at Augusta.”

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Anyone who watched the NBA Finals last season saw just how difficult good team basketball is to beat when its at its best.

When it comes to the San Antonio Spurs of Maine high school boys basketball, look no further than Hampden Academy.

The Broncos used that team-oriented style at both ends of the floor Wednesday night to overcome Messalonskee and one of the state’s best players, Nick Mayo, 58-47.

“You’ve got to have kids that have a good feel for the game and we’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of basketball,” Hampden coach Russ Bartlett said. “This group in particular has played a lot together so that is something that they have a good feel for how to find shots working together.”

A lot of that play starts with point guard Nick Gilpin. In Wednesday’s game, the 6-foot-3 junior did what he has done to many opponents this season and astutely picked apart the Eagles’ defense in the second half.

“They’re so balanced but I think it comes down to Gilpin starting it,” Messalonskee coach Peter McLaughlin said. “He makes the right plays, he doesn’t make mistakes and when you throw multiple looks at him he’s composed enough to realize what’s there.

“…We couldn’t keep him in front. I think he ended up with 17 (points). He had easily eight … assists where he was just hitting open guys where we kind of had to go to a trap in the second half and he just made big plays.”