Oxford Hills’ Sierra Carson goes up for a shot against Bangor in a Class AA North semifinal last month in Portland. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Not playing much her first two seasons due to knee injuries meant Oxford Hills’ Sierra Carson needed to adjust to high school basketball this winter.

She had played a lot of AAU, but high school is a different style of hoops.

The junior guard was fast to adapt. She found her rhythm about three games into the season and helped lead the Vikings to an 18-3 record and a runner-up finish in Class AA North.

Carson averaged 19 points per game, seven rebounds three assists and 2.5 steals and was voted Class AA North Player of the Year by the region’s coaches. She also has been selected as the Sun Journal’s All-Region Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

“It had been a while since I played in a high school game, and I didn’t even remember it,” Carson said. “After the first three games it felt good and comfortable. … It was definitely great (to play a full season). I can finally say that.”

Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said Carson caught on to the high school game quickly.

“What was good about her is that she’s played enough basketball that her growth progressed so quickly,” he said. “We’d be in practice and we’d say, ‘It was good you did this, but your teammate was wide open here, and so you need to get her a look because you were trying to shoot over two or three people.’ She was able to pick up on those things so quickly that there really weren’t that many games in before we were like, ‘Holy, she is going to have one of those games where it’ll just be a domination.’ Then it just kept happening.”

Carson’s acclimation was accelerated in practices through being challenged by Molly Corbett and Brooklynn Alexander, and other skilled and athletic teammates.

“We have some pretty athletic kids on the team, and their goal in practice was just to make her life miserable in practice and be on her all the time,” Pelletier said. “It goes to show you that having roles on teams is really important, and we had some kids really fulfill those roles. We have some great defenders, some really athletic kids, as well, that play mostly JV, and everyone bought into their role. Everyone knew that Sierra has to score for us, but they also knew that by her doing what she does that they’ll also get open shots. It all of a sudden got people ready to catch the ball, and ready to score, as well.”

Carson said the Vikings were a close group, but they also were competitive, and through the combination of those two elements the players helped each other get better.

“I am definitely really close with them,” Carson said. “It made it more, fun but we pushed each other a lot more. We would say, ‘You can’t score on me, I’m going to score on you,’ and things like that. They definitely pushed me and I pushed them just to get better, and that definitely helped a lot. It’s great to have great players on your team because not everyone on opposing teams have players like them, so it helps you set you up for games.”

Carson said the Vikings’ chemistry is one of the things that stands out most from this season, and that it was especially evident following the loss to Cheverus in the AA North final.

“Even in the locker room after the loss, everyone was upset but there wasn’t much crying,” Carson said. “(The seniors) just told us how much they’ll miss us and how much fun they had. Having that chemistry is great and something you won’t ever forget.”