STEVIE WALSH, Senior – Basketball

Walsh will leave his mark on the Yarmouth program as the player who hit the biggest shot in its history and one who was simply magical when the game was on the line, including this postseason, when he nearly led the Clippers to a repeat state title.

Walsh is a throwback, a three-sport athlete who loves whatever sport might be in season, be it basketball, soccer (where he won two Gold Balls) or baseball. He has played all three sports at a high level and has scored several memorable goals to lead Yarmouth’s boys’ soccer team to greatness, but this winter, he was the player every opponent was trying to stop and rarely could.

Walsh, nicknamed “Stevie Wonder,” will forever be remembered for draining an incredibly clutch 3-pointer with time winding down to tie the 2022 Class B state game against Ellsworth and send it to overtime, where the Clippers won their first championship in a decade.

This season, Walsh was even better, averaging 16 points per game.

Highlights included 18 points in a win over Lake Region, 27 points in a loss to Greely, a career-high 40 points in a victory over Freeport, 22 points in a win over Brunswick, 28 points (including seven 3-pointers) in a home win over Greely, 24 points in a victory at Wells and 18 in a win at Poland.

The best players shine the brightest in the postseason and to no one’s surprise, Walsh was superb in the tournament, scoring 22 points in a quarterfinal round win over Maranacook, producing 23 points, including some key free throws late to hold off Lincoln Academy in the semifinals, then he bowed out in the regional final with 32 points, helping Yarmouth rally to force overtime before losing a heartbreaker to Oceanside. He averaged nearly 26 points per contest in the playoffs.

“I can’t help but look back and be proud of the guys,” said Walsh. “We worked hard all season and fought back. It was sad to not go all the way, but it was still special to go that far. Now that I’ve been able to take a moment, I’m grateful. It’s fun to look back. It was special to play in a state final.”

Walsh plans to do a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, playing soccer and basketball. He hopes to play soccer in college.

Rest assured that the legend of Stevie Walsh, Yarmouth’s Winter Athlete of the Year, will long live in Clippers lore. He produced too many memorable moments to count.

Coach Ilunga Mutombo’s comment: “Once Stevie gets going, it’s hard to stop that train. Stevie plays his heart out. He’s committed to being the best he can. He’s a great leader. He puts everything on the line. He commits his mind and body to this program for the well being of everyone else. They know they can get behind Stevie and he will lead them. When it comes down to it, he’s the most clutch guy I’ve ever seen. He’ll go down in Yarmouth history as the player that whenever things are tough, he does what he does best.”

Previous winners:

SADIE CARNES, Senior – Hockey

Carnes led the Yarmouth/Freeport co-op team to the best season in program history and wound up being named the state’s finest senior player.

In light of that resume, it’s pretty easy to tack on another honor.

Carnes, who also plays lacrosse and was the manager this past fall for the state championship-winning girls’ soccer team, started playing hockey in middle school.

“My family’s big into hockey,” Carnes said. “It took me a few years to get into it, then I hit my stride.”

Carnes joined the varsity team as a freshman and made an immediate impression on her new coach.

“I remember (Sadie’s) freshman year when she wanted to work on receiving and passing in traffic,” Dave Intraversato said. “She and I would skate around the rink, at a pretty good speed, passing the puck to each other while everyone else was warming up. We did this every day. She just wanted to be a perfect passer. She became a great one.”

Carnes’ sophomore season was cut short by COVID restrictions, but she still managed to score seven goals in limited action. As a junior, Carnes had nine goals and nine assists and made the All-Conference team. Yarmouth/Freeport went just 6-9 and lost in the North Region quarterfinals, but everything changed for the better this season.

Carnes would score 15 goals and add 22 assists as Yarmouth/Freeport set a record for regular season victories (15) and earned the top seed in the playoffs for the first time.

Highlights included two goals in a season opening win over St. Dom’s, a goal and a pair of assists in a victory over Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland, two goals in a win over Brunswick, three goals and three assists in a victory over Edward Little, a goal in a win over Cheverus and a goal and two assists in a victory over Portland/Deering.

In the playoffs, as Yarmouth/Freeport made a charge to its first-ever appearance in a state final, Carnes had a goal and an assist in a regional final victory over Penobscot. Yarmouth/Freeport then dropped a 3-2 decision to Cheverus in the final game.

“The season exceeded my expectations,” said Carnes. “I didn’t think we’d be that good. Losing the state game was disappointing, but I was proud we got there. I’m glad we were able to win and have good team chemistry.”

Following the season, Carnes was given the Becky Schaffer Award, named after the one-time Yarmouth standout, given to the state’s premier senior player.

Carnes became the first Clipper to be honored.

“The award came as a big surprise,” Carnes said. “It’s more than I ever dreamed.”

Carnes now turns her attention to leading the girls’ lacrosse team to another state game and as one of just two seniors on the roster, she’ll play a big leadership role. Again.

Carnes plans to attend Northeastern University in Boston and hopes to play club hockey or lacrosse.

Sadie Carnes, Yarmouth’s Winter Athlete of the Year, scored big goals at big times and more importantly, made her teammates believe they could do great things. That’s the kind of player and leader that will be hard to replace.

Coach David Intraversato’s comment: “Sadie is the type of player every coach dreams of. Over the last four years, she worked daily to improve her skills. ‘Sades’ worked hard and was rewarded. That’s her. Her 37 points this season helped her linemates be better. Also, she filled in on the wing on our second line during holiday break as we were missing players. She had eight points that week in two games. You put Sadie on the ice and her line scores, period. Her ability to play the whole ice surface was contagious on our team. Sadie back-checks her wing and usually wins the puck back to break out and start the offense. All of our lines were doing the same. This shows how much of a leader she is as a captain. She was our Patrice Bergeron. Her leadership skills are phenomenal. A few instances over the season while in the locker room in between periods she picked up the team with motivational speeches and reminded everyone to stay composed, have fun, and stick to the plan. We preach confidence, trust and work ethic daily and that was Sadie. She is confident on the ice, she trusts her teammates, trusts the process and her work ethic has always been top-notch. She’s a great kid and will be very successful in whatever she decides to do. We will miss her, but I am optimistic her mentorship will help our underclassmen step up in the future.”

Previous winners:

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter:@foresports.

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