More than a dozen championship banners cover one whole wall inside Mt. Ararat High School’s gymnasium. The red-and-blue pennants mark hard-won state titles in swimming, wrestling, track, tennis, football and soccer, among other sports.
But one banner has always been missing. Since the school’s founding 52 years ago in 1973, the girls basketball team had never brought home a gold ball.
That changed last month when Harpswell’s own Julianna Allen scored 17 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and helped lead her team to a 43-31 victory over Hampden Academy at the Augusta Civic Center.
Allen was not only the game’s top scorer, she also claimed eight of her team’s first 15 points in the second half.
“The win felt amazing,” said the 6-foot-1 junior who’d rather talk about her teammates than draw attention to her own performance. “I mean, words really can’t describe the feeling. We’re all just so proud of each other, and we worked so hard to get there.”
Allen said practicing beneath all the other championship banners in the gym this year motivated the team, especially after losing a regional playoff game to cross-river rival Brunswick High School last year.
“We knew we wanted to make history for the school,” Allen said, “and I think that lit an extra fire under us.”
Allen, 17, lives in Cundy’s Harbor and began her basketball career in the Little Dribblers program at Harpswell Community School. She then progressed through middle school, often traveling to the town of Bowdoin for practices, and into high school, where she made the varsity team as a freshman.
Allen said the secret to Mt. Ararat’s success this year is teamwork. It helps that she’s known some teammates most of her life.
“I’ve played with them since, like, fourth grade or third grade, so we still have a pretty strong connection,” she said. “We’re in the gym every day together, a lot of us are in the same classes — it’s almost like a second family.”
The generous Allen is quick to point out she’s not the only player on the team from Harpswell. Freshmen Cali LeClair and Emma Graffam are also Harpswellians. Mt. Ararat serves four towns: Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Harpswell and Topsham.
Girls basketball coach Julie Petrie said she is proud of her whole team and Allen stands out as a quiet leader. It’s not a done deal, but Petrie thinks Allen has a good chance of being named a team captain next season.
“She’s smart, humble, a phenomenal kid,” Petrie said, “and just does what she can for her team to be successful.”
Petrie said Allen is a well-rounded player, comfortable shooting with either hand and driving to the basket, and not afraid to bring the ball up the court when the situation calls for it.
Allen is also a standout soccer player at Mt. Ararat. When not on the court or the pitch, her favorite classes are math and science.
“I take calculus right now, which is hard, but it’s fun sometimes,” she said.
Her least favorite class is English.
On weekends and in the summer, Allen helps her mother run the family business, Your Island Connection, which looks after vacation rentals in Harpswell, West Bath and Phippsburg.
“I clean the houses that get turned over every weekend,” Allen said, “and I’m going to do office work there pretty soon.”
Allen’s current long-term plan is to study business in college, then take over for her mom someday and stay in Harpswell.
But first, she’ll finish her junior year, play soccer in the fall and then hit the hardwood again with one thing in mind.
“We’re looking to go for gold again,” Allen said.
