A playoff game between the Lewiston-Auburn Maples and the Mount Vernon Shamrocks is played at the Lewiston Armory on Sept. 11, 2022. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

You can hear their exasperation when LA Maples owner Josh Brister and general manager Sarah Soltan discuss why the second-year semipro women’s basketball team has yet to play a single game this season. 

The New England Trail Blazers folded just before the Maples could play the team in their scheduled season opener at the Lewiston Armory. The New York/Harlem Underdogs canceled the next home game with the Maples, reporting they had a transportation issue and could not to make the trip to Lewiston, according to WABA President and CEO Marsha Blount, who added that both teams have been dismissed from the league. 

“(New England and Harlem) have been disciplined and unfortunately it does not help,” she said. 

That means the Maples won’t play their first game until the second weekend in August. 

“The team that we were supposed to play — the New York Underdogs — the owner texted me at midnight Sunday morning (of game day),” the outraged Brister said. “We were supposed to play at 2 p.m. — like, that is unprofessional. So it is not like days in advance they are telling us. They are telling us the day of.” 

Brister said the cancellations have left the team flustered but determined to go the distance.

“Please let people know that it is not our fault,” Brister said. “Our ladies are still practicing. We are still engaged in the community. We are still doing stuff; we just can’t get a home game. 

“We have done everything we can as a Maples organization to ensure that the game of women’s basketball can be played professionally here in the state. Unfortunately, we’ve fallen victim to other teams and franchises in the WABA that either don’t understand or don’t value their players. We here at the (Lewiston-Auburn) Maples value our players. They are practicing and lifting and doing what they need to do. We are ready to play.”  

At this point, the Maples are scheduled to finally open the season by playing back-to-back games on Aug. 12 and 13 at the Armory. They are set to face the Mount Vernon Shamrocks on Saturday at 4 p.m. and play the Shamrocks again on Sunday at 3 p.m.

“We will honor all previously bought tickets,” Brister said.  

Soltan also expressed frustration with the cancellations. 

“We were really excited to bring a quality product in women’s basketball to Lewiston,” she said. “We were excited to build off the momentum from last season — and it has been professionally frustrating. 

“We are missing feedback. We are missing the kind of momentum moving forward. We kind of feel like our progress has been stymied. It feels a little bit like we are banging our heads up against the wall.” 

Soltan said even with the frustration, the Maples organization continues to press forward despite a delay in the start of their season. 

COMMISH WEIGHS IN 

Blount also is disappointed about the cancellations, but she said the season schedule was made months ago and it was beyond the league’s control when both teams bowed out in each game. 

“We have stepped in and scheduled back-to-back games with another one of the teams to assist them … but obviously we can’t replace those teams at the league level,” she said. “We have taken steps, quite honestly, to remove them so this won’t happen again.  

“We feel and personally I am very disappointed that the Maples had to go through this or going through this. I wish there was more that we could do, but those were the teams that were scheduled in divisions. We tried looking at the schedule to see if we could kind of move some things around, but the teams are already set.” 

Blount did add that the Maples are a first-class organization, and it was unfortunate those cancellations occurred. 

“Josh has just been amazing,” she said. “None of this, I need this to be very clear, though they were affected by it, it was nothing to do with the LA Maples. They have done, and they have always done, everything asked of them and they are an exceptional organization, and honestly my goal is to continue to work to make sure we can bring them back.  

“… (The Maples) just don’t have a fan base, they have the best fan base in the league. I just need it to be known that the Maples are strong. We are behind them. We want to work to make sure this, going forward, this will not happen again. But I totally understand their frustration.”