Kristen Huntress, an upcoming junior at Lake Region High School, proudly shows off the runner-up trophy.

Kristen Huntress, junior at Lake Region High School, and her MBR basketball team finished second in the 2015 AAU National Grade 10 Tournament held last week in Orlando, Fla.

Huntress averaged a team-high 12 points per game for the Maine squad, which went 4-0 in Pool play, beating the Florida Wolves, Florida Tarheels, Alaska Ice and Tennessee Heat.

Winning the pool, MBR was the number one seed and continued its success by downing the Basketball Club of Florida, and the North Carolina Mt. Holly Stars, making it to the Finals. The Mainers came up just short, losing to RI Basketball Club 51-41 in a hard fought battle that was a five-point spread for most of the game.

Throughout the week, the girls’ pressure and intense defense forced many turnovers and seemed to be too much for the teams to handle as MBR would slowly extend the lead until it was out of reach. Even with a guard heavy team, the girls boxed out extremely well, not allowing too many second-chance opportunities.

Offensively, if the team wasn’t on a fast break, MBR saw mostly zone defenses. This played great into the sharp shooting team’s style of play as they averaged seven made 3-pointers per game with one game MBR hitting 10!

Even though the girls fell short of winning the tournament, they had an opportunity to play in front of many Division 1, 2 and 3 college coaches and were part of an experience that doesn’t come often. They represented Maine well on and off the court. As they head back to now play for their high school teams, they all have a silver medal and a great experience to tell their other teammates.

Other team members included: Kate Friant of Boothbay (4 points per game), Morgan Eliasen of Lewiston (9 ppg), Erin Eastman of Oxford Hills (5 ppg), Erin Morton of Oxford Hills (8 ppg), Bella Robinson of Thornton Academy (8 ppg), Sophia Hanscom of Oxford Hills (4 ppg), and Alex Bessey of Spruce Mountain (10 ppg). Andrew Morong was the team’s head coach.

On the roster, but not in attendance were Victoria Harris of Lewiston and Chandler True of Lake Region.