Mattanawcook Academy’s Sydney Robertson (right) grabs a rebound in front of Orono High School’s Ally Gonyar during a Class C tourney game last February at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Robertson has transferred to Orono. (Gabor Degre photo)
In the team’s Eastern Maine Class C semifinal loss to Orono, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln freshman standout Sydney Robertson paced the Lynx with 10 points and eight rebounds.
But the Red Riots won’t have to figure out a way to neutralize her this season because she will be playing for the Red Riots.
The 6-foot forward/center, daughter of former Mattanawcook Academy star and University of Maine starting center Curtis Robertson, has moved to Orono with her family.
Robertson played with the Red Riots during summer league basketball and had a chance to familiarize herself with her new teammates and Orono head coach Jessica Witham.
“It was the best welcoming you could ever receive,” the 15-year-old Robertson said. “It couldn’t have gone any better. It was a very good experience. I definitely learned a lot this summer. I spent a day working with coach Witham, and I learned so much it was crazy.”
Witham said there was a learning curve.
“It’s tough walking into a team with a lot of returners,” she said. “She didn’t know the plays or my terminology. She had to start from scratch.
“But she [adapted] well to the team concept, and she is a quick learner,” added Witham. “She’s a very coachable kid. She wants to learn and do well. She has the potential to be a pretty good player.”
Robertson said she is excited for the basketball season.
“It can’t come soon enough,” said Robertson, who is serving as the back-up goalkeeper for the Orono girls soccer team.
Robertson said Orono High has a lot to offer her in the way of academics and athletics, and she is looking forward to the challenge.
Her family didn’t move into their Orono home until two weeks ago.
“We had been commuting [from Lincoln] all summer,” she said.
The move had been in the works for a while.
Robertson’s father works in Old Town, and her mother, Shannon, works in Bangor, and they had been commuting from Lincoln.
“It was very hard. My [younger] brother [Connor] and I were always home alone,” said Robertson. “We didn’t have much family time.”
Robertson is joining an Orono team that went 19-2 last season and reached the Eastern Maine Class C final, where Calais upended the Red Riots 49-30.
The Red Riots graduated just three players off that team: 5-9 forward Katie Smith, 5-5 guard Elea Kass and 5-7 forward Elizabeth Hardison.
Witham said Robertson will be able to handle a number of roles.
“She’s a tall, strong girl. She will be able to fill in where we need her. If we need her to score, she can score, if we need her to block shots, she can block shots,” said Witham.
Robertson had a memorable tournament last winter.
In addition to her performance against Orono, she had scored seven fourth-quarter points and finished with six rebounds for the sixth-seeded Lynx in an upset win over No. 3 Narraguagus of Harrington 46-40 in the quarterfinals.
Robertson said she will miss her friends in Lincoln and most of them wished her luck.
But not all.
“I definitely found out who my true friends were,” she said.
