The GSA Eagles remain unbeaten as the regular season veers towards play offs. By Monique Labbe
Blue Hill—With a 63-44 win over Calais on January 20, the George Stevens Academy boys basketball team registered its 14th win of the season, with a 0 still in the loss column.
The team is undefeated this season, something head coach Dwayne Carter said is due to the team’s unselfishness on the court, and the player’s abilities to play as a unit from the first whistle to the last.
“This has made it hard for teams thus far to key on shutting down an individual player because they will just find the open guy,” said Carter. “We have had up to six players in a game in double figures and assists. We have become a dynamic team and just when an opponent thinks they have shut down a player another one steps up and makes it happen.”
During the game against Calais, the Eagle defense shut down the Blue Devil offense in the first half, allowing six points in the first quarter and just four in the second. That defensive effort led to points on offense, and though the team missed some open opportunities they would normally make, Carter said the defense is the priority on the court.
“I tell the team it is our defense that always has to be consistent and the foundation of our team which we build upon. If we can hold teams in the thirties and forties we always have a very good chance of winning the game.”
With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles are close to repeating the 2016-17 regular season, when the team finished undefeated before going on to win the Class C State championship. The team’s mantra has always been to take things one game at a time, and working hard in practice in order to reach their goal of getting back to that championship game.
“Moving forward toward the playoffs we need to hone our defenses and get more consistent with our rotations and help side rotations. We will need to become more consistent in what we do and tweak both offensively and defensively what we do depending on who we are playing and what our advantages are,” said Carter. “At this point we are worth a lot of heal points and everyone will bring their ‘A’ game when they play us.”
The team has home games against Deer Isle-Stonington High School (January 30) and Mattanawcook Academy (February 4) left on the regular season schedule, before preparing for their playoff run.