For the first time in four years, Oak Hill started the preseason without a large chunk of its roster still trying to recover from winning a football state championship. Nevertheless, coach Tom Smith faces the challenge of establishing a new identity after the graduation of Dalton Therrien and Jonah Martin, his two top scorers the […]
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Class AA Boys’ Preview: Vikings, Eddies and Devils hope to close gap on champion Bulldogs
The first year of Maine high school basketball’s fifth class did not hold many surprises. SMAA, or more specifically, Portland area teams dominated, forming three of the final four, with Portland topping South Portland for the gold ball. Although Portland is the favorite to repeat, some teams to the north hope they have closed the […]
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Class A boys’ basketball: Hornets, Cougars hope to find more success
The first year of a reconfigured Class A was a lean one for both Leavitt and Mt. Blue. The teams combined for five victories and missed the tournament. Both teams are eager to put last season behind them, although they will have to attack the new season in different ways. Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway thinks […]
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Winter Preview: Mt. Abram girls’ basketball
During the summer, Mt. Abram faced a few undermanned teams and essentially said, “We got this.” Of course, it wasn’t that easy, and third-year coach Larry Donald said the Roadrunners aren’t the type of team that can afford to have that perspective. “There isn’t anybody that we’re going to just go in a walk over,” […]
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Girls’ Basketball: Monmouth girls’ basketball
Monmouth ranked first in the Mountain Valley Conference last year in scoring offense (52.3 ppg) and third in scoring defense (30.5 ppg). The Mustangs went 18-3 and reached the Class C South semifinals. Here’s the interesting part: a majority of the nucleus of that team was mostly sophomores. That means that this year’s squad are […]
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Winter Preview: St. Dominic girls’ basketball
St. Dominic Academy went 9-9 last season and made a somewhat surprising run to the Class C playoffs, during which the Saints upset Dirigo in the first round and reached the region quarterfinals. They did all that with a young squad of no seniors. Therefore, they didn’t lose any players to graduation. However, they still […]
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Winter Preview: Winthrop girls’ basketball
Start with this from Winthrop coach Joe Burnham: “This is the most excited I have been about the start of a season in my four years at Winthrop.” The Ramblers have been through some rough years since Burnham took over the program, mostly notably when they dropped down to JV two years ago. They returned […]
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Winter Preview: Rangeley girls’ basketball
Rangeley coach Heidi Deery says a player like Blayke Morin, a 6-foot-2 post who led the Lakers to last season’s Class D State championship, can’t be replaced. That doesn’t mean the team isn’t intent on finding a way to reclaim the glory of last winter. “It’s just different,” Deery, in her 23rd season as Rangeley’s […]
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Class B boys’ basketball: Phoenix ready to rise to new heights
With a veteran nucleus back led by the senior trio of Austin Darling, Noah Preble and Caulin Parker, Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey wanted to challenge his team in preseason, with the idea of setting a tone that will help the Phoenix advance beyond the B South quarterfinals for the first time since 2012. “We […]
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Class D boys’ basketball: Lakers hope to take next step, join list of contenders
Sometimes, who wins the gold ball simply comes down to whoever has the best player, especially if that player is head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Last year, Valley of Bingham has such a player on Cody Laweryson. Now playing Division I baseball at the University of Maine, Laweryson carried the Cavaliers to their first state title […]