Winthrop’s Jacob Hickey shoots over Madison’s Evan Bess during the Class C regional championship game at the Augusta Civic Center last month.
BANGOR — Matching undefeated senior seasons capped off by state championships weren’t enough for Matt McDevitt of Greely of Cumberland Center and Emily Esposito of Gorham.
They were crowned the 2017 Mr. and Miss Maine Basketball on Friday night during the annual Maine McDonald’s/Maine Association of Basketball Coaches banquet.
“It feels amazing,” said McDevitt. “It’s something you dream of when you’re a little kid growing up. I’m just so happy right now.”
McDevitt, a 6-foot-7 guard-forward, averaged 16 points, 3.2 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game while leading Greely to a 22-0 season this winter capped off by the program’s first state championship in 19 years. He also was named a Western Maine Conference first-team all-star.
A four-year varsity player and three-year starter, McDevitt led the Rangers to a 68-16 record during his career and surpassed 1,000 career points during his team’s state-championship game victory over Messalonskee of Oakland.
“I’d have to say the state championship (is bigger) just because this is an individual award and I’m all about the team now,” said McDevitt. “I don’t think I’d be able to get this award without my teammates, so it felt good to get that state championship with them.”
McDevitt represents the latest chapter of a significant Maine basketball family. His father, Mike McDevitt, is the longtime women’s basketball coach at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, while older brother Mike was a 2014 Mr. Basketball semifinalist for his play at Greely.
“Having my brother as a semifinalist for this, I definitely knew what the award meant,” said Matt, who has yet to determine his academic future and is considering a postgraduate year at prep school.
Joining McDevitt as Mr. Basketball finalists were guards Colin Coyne of Falmouth and Jacob Hickey of Winthrop.
Esposito, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 19.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.9 steals this year to earn Southwestern Maine Activities Association Player of the Year and all-defensive team honors. She was the most valuable player of the Class AA South tournament and totaled 20 points and six steals during the Rams’ state championship victory over Oxford Hills of South Paris.
A four-time selection to the All-SMAA first team, Esposito concluded her career as Gorham’s career scoring leader with 1,446 points while leading the Rams to a 73-9 four-year record — including 42 consecutive victories as Gorham went undefeated in both 2016 and 2017 en route to winning the first two Class AA girls basketball state championships.
Among those she credited for her success was former Maine Firecrackers AAU teammate Allie Clement, the 2014 Miss Maine Basketball.
“I looked up to Allie Clement and all those other players before her, and that’s something I strived to become,” said Esposito, who is headed to Villanova University on a full basketball scholarship this fall. “Seeing how hard Allie worked, she’s really the person who kind of drove me to be like that.”
Esposito was joined as a finalist for the Miss Basketball award by Bangor center Katie Butler and Messalonskee guard Sophie Holmes.
“I’m just blessed to be honored,” said Esposito. “Those two players are amazing, Katie and Sophie. Both had tremendous high school careers and Sophie just won a state championship, too, so I’m definitely honored and blessed to be honored out of the three.”
The Maine McDonald’s all-star weekend continues Saturday at Newman Gymnasium on the campus of Husson University beginning at 8:30 a.m. with the state free-throw shooting championship.
Four senior all-star games follow: the girls Classes AA-A-B game at 9:15 a.m., the boys AA-A-B game at 10:45, the boys C-D game at 1 p.m. and the girls C-D game at 2:30.
Also scheduled is a 3-point shooting contest at 12:15 p.m. and a slam dunk competition at 12:30.
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