History has been made yet again this tournament season.
Each year, the Bangor Daily News awards the William C. Warner Award to the MVPs of the North regional high school basketball tournament for each of the classes that play tourney action in Bangor.
This year’s Class B and D winners are seniors, Tristen Robbins of Caribou and Owen Wyman of Schenck in East Millinocket. And in Class C, this year’s MVP Quinn Pelletier has done something never before seen in collective BDN memory: He won the high school award as an eighth-grader.
The eighth grade forward from Madawaska received the most MVP votes in Class C as part of this year’s all-tournament team balloting.
The MVP awards and all-tournament teams are selected by media members and tournament officials who watched games in Bangor during the regional competition.
Hall-of-Fame BDN reporter Larry Mahoney, who has been covering sports at the paper for more than 50 years, has never seen this particular achievement from an eighth-grader.
Former Bangor Daily News sports editor and writer Pete Warner was almost positive that no eighth-grader has ever won the tournament MVP award before. The Warner award is named after Pete’s father, Bill, who was also a longtime BDN sports journalist.
The BDN has archives of the all-tournament team results dating back to 1946, but those historical records do not include player ages.
Robbins, Wyman and Pelletier headline an impressive list of boys all-tourney performers this year. And Pelletier is not the only young player to be recognized among the tournament’s best. Across the three classes on this North regional list, one third of the honorees are sophomores.
The Class B all-tournament team members are Robbins of Caribou, Orono senior forward Will Francis, Old Town senior forward Emmitt Byther, Caribou senior forward Landen Belanger and Mount Desert Island sophomore guard James Witham.
The Class C all-tournament members are Pelletier of Madawaska, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln sophomore guard Kooper McCarthy and teammate Andrew Oliver, Fort Kent sophomore Aidan Jeffers and Calais senior guard Kaeson Dana.
The Class D all-tournament team members are Schenck’s Wyman and teammate Brayden Osborne, Bangor Christian sophomore guard Rajon Reed, Central Aroostook of Mars Hill sophomore Jahleel Joseph and Katahdin of Stacyville senior Connor Edwards.
Class B
MVP Robbins has led the way for Caribou, with his 50 total points in the tournament through three games so far, helping to send the Vikings to the upcoming Class B state championship on Friday.
Of all those points, the seven he scored in a row during the last four minutes of the regional final against Orono probably made the biggest difference for his team. That clutch effort from Robbins turned a six-point deficit into a one-point lead for the Vikings, with teammate Landen Belanger (more on him later) sealing regional title on a last-second free throw.
Orono’s Francis almost dashed the Caribou state championship hopes with a full-court heave that just missed at the end of that game, ending his remarkable basketball career with the Red Riots that included two state championships.
Orono wasn’t quite able to secure a third-straight title, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of effort from Francis. His 24 points against Old Town helped a short-handed Orono survive against an upset-minded Coyote squad led by Emmitt Byther.
The Old Town senior forward is next on the list, proving himself to be a dominant force throughout the tournament. Byther’s presence throughout the game was a major part of Old Town’s upset win over second-ranked Ellsworth in the quarterfinals.
Byther and Francis are no strangers to the Class B all-tournament team. Both were voted to the team last year as well. Francis was also on the team as a sophomore in 2023, when Byther was an honorable mention.
Caribou senior forward Belanger had the ball in his hands when it mattered most against Orono, and he didn’t disappoint. Belanger knocked down the game-winning free throw with .5 seconds left, one of his eight points on the night.
“Landen’s cold-blooded, we’ve known that forever,” Caribou coach Kyle Corrigan said after the regional final win. “He’s a big-time player, he’s a big shotmaker.”
Witham of MDI was another of the tournament’s impressive young stars. The sophomore guard led MDI in scoring in both of his team’s tournament games at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Witham’s skill required constant attention from opposing defenses.
Class C
Pelletier’s staggering 43-point performance in the Class C North final received a lot of deserved attention. The eighth-grader firmly established himself as one of the tournament’s brightest stars with a total of 71 points in the regionals. But the MVP wasn’t the only one to shine in Class C.
Mattanawcook Academy’s perfect season has been powered in part by two members of the all-tournament team, McCarthy and Oliver.
McCarthy is the team’s “floor general,” according to coach Adam Mahaney, and the sophomore guard provided a critical 28 points in Mattanawcook’s regional final win over Madawaska.
After a slow team start in the first quarter of the opening round, Oliver has been a consistent spark for the Lynx, especially beyond the arc. He had 18 points in that hard-fought win over Madawaska.
Fort Kent’s Jeffers embraced the underdog role as he led the No. 5 Warriors over No. 4 Hodgdon in the regional quarterfinals. He piled up an impressive 31 points in that win.
Calais’ Dana is the only repeat member of this year’s Class C all-tournament team. His 16 points led the way for the No. 7 Blue Devils in their quarterfinal upset over No. 2 Machias. And his blistering second half shooting almost led Calais to a comeback against Madawaska in the semifinals, but the Owls proved too strong down the stretch.
Class D
Schenck of East Millinocket is heading to the Class D state final on Saturday in Bangor, and two of its players are headlining this all-tournament list. Wyman was voted Class D MVP, and Schenck junior guard Brayden Osborne joins him on the list.
Wyman, who netted 16 for the Wolverines in their regional final win over Katahdin, said his team “just had to get it done.” This is Wyman’s second year in a row on the all-tourney team.
Osborne had a game-high 24 points to lead top-seeded Schenck over Bangor Christian earlier in the tournament. That was a statement win over the returning Class D state champions, who beat the Wolverines on the way to the Class D title last year. He said Schenck “didn’t want to redo last year,” and they didn’t.
Joseph began his Central Aroostook team’s tournament run in Bangor with an impressive double-double, scoring 19 points and bringing in 11 rebounds, according to the stats from Maine Basketball Rankings and the MPA. Joseph added another 17 points in the Panthers’ semifinal loss to Katahdin.
Katahdin’s own impressive tournament run was fueled in part by Edwards. The 1,000-point career scorer netted 26 points in his team’s quarterfinal win over Easton. He and his team mounted a second half comeback against Central Aroostook in the semifinals to make it to the regional championship game.
