Firecrackers Ewald Wins 9th Grade AAU State Championships

Maine Firecrackers Ewald today won the the 9th (13U) grade AAU State Title, 45-36 over Maine Hoops.  After trailing 24-16 at the half, Coach Ewald gave the kids a “spirited” talk that inspired them to come out with great defensive intensity and the women in orange controlled the paint. Sadie Nelson, Katie Herzig, and Kaylin Malmquest led the defense, while Regan Mars, Caroline DeNoia and Jess Willerson controlled the boards. Julia Brogan had some highlight worthy passes while new team members Morgan “Rocket” Crocker and Jess Burton made strong contributions on both sides of the ball. Jess Willerson and Sarah Clement provided a good inside/outside combination with 17 and 15 points respectively.

Coaches Ewald, DeNoia, and Mars were forced to compete without two strong guards, Juliauna Dunlap and Alexis Ewald, due to injuries.

Considering many of the team members are 8th graders, winning the 9th grade AAU State Championship is a great accomplishment. Coach Ewald commented, “I am really proud of the energy and effort from the whole team. We have worked hard for the past 2 months to prepare for this and I’m pleased to see the girls efforts rewarded. Now we’ll get back to work and keep focusing on improving individually and as a team each week. Coach Levesque does a nice job with his ME Hoops team and they were tough to beat.”