Girls look to contend again next year
The girls basketball team had a fantastic year, finishing with an 18-1 record and losing in the Eastern Maine finals. We hadn’t been that far since 2011 when we were beaten by Washburn in the first year of their dynasty. We were fortunate to have two players, Lily Gray and Kaylee Morey, picked for the All-Tournament Team in Class D. The loss of Lily Gray will leave a big hole, for sure, but we proved this year that there are players who will step up to bigger roles when needed.
With Taylor Hardy proving to have a good offensive presence and Rylee Eaton back, we will have a solid starting five, with many other players who improved this season who should be a big help as well. This is a benefit of Coach Randy Shepard playing everyone for major minutes in games we had a comfortable lead. We may not have scored as much as we could have, but the experience gained was priceless.
Having depth and role players is critical for having a strong team. With another year and good work this summer, we should be deeper and better next year. We will certainly be a contender and so will Southern Aroostook along with several others. We will be looking for redemption and playing with a chip on our shoulder (especially Rylee Eaton) which will make it an even more fun year for watching them play. As the saying went last season; “Not done yet!”
Boys will have high expectations next season
The boys basketball team’s record of 6-12 didn’t come close to framing how the team played this year. We started out young and inexperienced and we improved quickly. By the time we got to the second half of the season, we played along with almost every team in a tough Class C loaded schedule. We responded to the challenges and played well together from the beginning of the season.
We will need to replace Tobey Snow, who proved to be a leader on the court. First year Coach Don Allen had fun with this group as they worked hard to improve and play as a team. One of our shortcomings was depth, and it caught up with us in foul trouble and fatigue. Despite our lack of height, we held our own in rebounding against taller teams.
This group was motivated and played very smart at the end of games for being so young. Coach Allen is looking for many of the other players to work hard this summer to give us more depth next year. We came into this year with no expectations, but that will all change next year. We should come out of the gate quickly and could well be a contender for the playoffs.