Orono won its first boys’ basketball state championship since 1981 last season, and at the center of the team’s repeat bid is 6-foot senior point guard Pierce Walston.
The Red Riots’ leading scorer, assist man and ball stealer the past two years, Walston has a list of superlatives that goes on and on: four-year starter, three-year captain, 1,000-point scorer, all-Mainer, football state champion and basketball state champion.
Alongside distance runner Ruth White, Pierce Walston could cement himself as one of Orono’s all-time great athletes by winning a third gold ball this February. But the Class B playoffs are shaping up to be a gauntlet. To end his senior season with a bang, Walston recognizes that he and his teammates will have to re-examine the identity they’ve established for themselves and rely on the support of the Orono faithful more than ever.
“It’s definitely different going from being the hunter to being the hunted,” Walston said, referring to Orono’s unexpected championship run last year, which featured upsets over No. 1 Ellsworth in the regional final and then No. 1 Oceanside in the state final. “There’s definitely a lot of pressure on us, and there has been since the beginning of the year.”
Preseason, Orono (9-3) was the favorite to win it all, having returned Walston, the Francis brothers, junior Noah Schaff and three more of their top eight scorers. But things became murkier last week when the Red Riots dropped three straight to Caribou (8-2), Old Town (10-0) and Ellsworth (9-2), suddenly being bumped down to third in the B North Heal Point standings.
“We did get a little too over our heads about having the same players as last year,” Walston said. “It’s getting through and realizing we’re a completely different team with completely different strengths.”
With the tournament just six games away, the clock is ticking for Orono to settle into championship form. However, Walston has helped architect a blueprint for success — of pace, effort, chemistry and championship experience — that the Red Riots can lean on moving forward.
“In basketball, Orono had never really been a running team, but we pride ourselves on getting up and down as quickly as possible — Coach Kohtala built around us and not a certain system,” Walston said. “We’ve all been playing together since sixth and seventh grade. The chemistry’s there; we have a good time on and off the court.”
Walston has especially honed this speed and chemistry with senior Ben Francis and his younger brother Will Francis, the three of whom paced Orono’s lightning-quick offense on the gridiron this fall and finished as the Red Riots top three touchdown scorers. On the hardwood, they’ve been Orono’s top three scorers the past two seasons.
But for the trio to win its third gold ball this February, Orono is going to have to kick it into an even higher gear, and Walston is well aware.
“We have at least four state championship contenders in our conference. The effort that we put in practice and in games is ultimately going to be, I feel, the deciding factor,” Walston said.
“The community around us has been huge. They’ve followed us for all four years, giving us their energy, and we’re obviously trying to put on for them.”
