Ona Alarcon, a 6-foot-3 forward from Barcelona, Spain, joined Cheverus High’s Maddie Fitzpatrick and Central High’s Izzy Allen in signing National Letters of Intent to play for the University of Maine women’s basketball team beginning in the fall.
Alarcon will join a group of Spanish players who have played at UMaine, including two-time America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Blanca Millan; Laia Sole, who was chosen to the America East All-Rookie team and was the league’s Sixth Player of the Year; All-America East point guard Alba Orois and current guard Paula Gallego, who was a America East All-Rookie team pick.
Alarcon could supply the Black Bears with a legitimate post presence.
She has played for the Elite Spain Team, the Spanish Autonomic Selection U16 team and Barcelona’s regional team in 2019 and 2021.
“Ona will give us some much needed size to our front court,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon in a press release. “She can step out and shoot from the perimeter but is also comfortable in the low post. A versatile post player is incredibly important in our system and this is the player that Ona is.”
UMaine has received a ton of production from undersized post players like current post player Adi Smith, the league’s reigning Player of the Year, and former two-time second team All-America East player Maeve Carroll. But both are in the 5-foot-11, 6-foot range.
Allen, a 5-11 guard, averaged 26 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.9 steals per game at Central in Corinth last season and was chosen the Penobscot Valley Conference’s Class C Player of the Year. She is a three-time All-PVC first team choice and has scored 1,304 points in her career.
“Izzy will be a great Black Bear,” said Vachon. “She is a scorer. She can shoot the ball from deep and can get into a great pull-up jumper. Izzy wants to get better every time she steps on the court and will give us another outside threat.”
Fitzpatrick, a 5-11 guard, was the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year for 2022 when she led Portland’s Cheverus to the state Class AA title. She is a two-time Bangor Daily News All-Schoolgirl first team selection.
She averaged 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game for Cheverus last season.
“Maddie is a player I have wanted to coach since the first time I saw her play,” said Vachon. “She plays hard and she plays the game the right way. She can score in a variety of ways but would be happier passing the ball to a teammate for a basket.
“Her basketball IQ is impressive, as is her work ethic. Maddie will bring a lot of versatility to our team as she can play a multitude of positions.”
