Lisbon boys basketball player DJ Douglass leads the Greyhounds into MVC action on Saturday at Oak Hill in Wales. (Bob Conn / The Times Record)
There were several success stories from last year’s boys high school basketball season, including Freeport advancing to the Portland Expo for a quarterfinal, Mt. Ararat winning a preliminary game against rival Morse in head coach Dave Dubreuil’s first season, Tom Maines back on the bench leading the Shipbuilders, and Brunswick putting together a solid season.
Friday starts a new year, with several area teams looking to make some noise this year.
Mt. Ararat
Dubreuil’s first season leading the Eagles resulted in a 9-9 campaign and the No. 8 seed in Class A South.
Mt. Ararat rolled past No. 9 Morse, 83-43, then fell to top-seeded Greely in the quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.
Gone from that team is point guard Max Spelke, forward Austin Damon and center Jared Balser, so Dubreuil’s challenge will be to fill the void left with the loss of those three starters.
“For us, it is about consistency in everything that we do,” said Dubreuil, whose Eagles visit Morse on Friday at 6:30 p.m. “We have to play ‘team’ basketball and trust each other.”
Returning are seniors James Singleton, Caleb Manuel, JD Dionne, Jared Withers and Marcus Steinman, along with junior Jace Hollenbach. Junior Connor Moody is among the newcomers, joined by sophomores Ty Henke, Brandon Emerson, Ryan Robertson and Carson Taylor, and freshman Lukas Holman.
“This is a positive, hard-working group. They are an extremely focused group. We all expect to compete night in and night out, and make it back to the playoffs,” said the Mt. Ararat coach, whose Eagles open their home slate on Tuesday against Gray-New Gloucester (7 p.m.).
Brunswick
Todd Hanson is back as the coach of the Dragons, and he has another big task in front of him after Brunswick graduated five solid players (Sam Sharpe, Noah Cox, Finn Mitchell, Aiden Mitchell, Tony Cilea).
On top of that, something that has become the norm is the Dragons’ football success, which included the fifth state final appearance in six seasons. This caused a delay in those players hitting the hard court.
However, Hanson feels his hard-working group will find success after his team went 9-9 last year (No. 6 in Class A South) before falling to Falmouth in the quarterfinals.
“This is one of the hardest working groups that I’ve coached. Their attitude and work ethic should carry them a long way,” said Hanson, whose Dragons entertain Leavitt on Friday at 6:30 p.m. “We hope to use our quickness and experienced guard play to stretch out defenses and get some easy baskets.”
Returning players include seniors James Belanger and Noah Goddard, along with juniors Evan Kilfoil and Ethan Upham.
Hanson brings in a lot of new talent this season. Seniors Evan Cox and Isaiah Johnson, junior Cody Larson and freshman Thomas Harvey will be asked to contribute.
“We should be able to really defend people well, and translate our defensive scheme into fast-break offense,” said Hanson. “Weaknesses will be the time it takes for the guys to master both the offensive systems and defensive schemes that we incorporate.
“We hope to be very competitive in a tough KVAC South division. If we can establish and define roles for people, and our returning players can lead by example with hard work and determination each day, we should have a successful season. Our schedule is one of the toughest in the league with games against Biddeford, Kennebunk, Marshwood, and two versus Falmouth and Leavitt.”
Morse
It was a difficult first season for Maines as he made his return to the Shipbuilder bench. His team struggled to a 4-14 mark before falling to Mt. Ararat.
The squad is young, and Maines feels his Shipbuilders will need to shoot better and play better defense in order to navigate the always difficult Class A South region.
“This is no different than any other year,” said Maines, who lost his voice early last season. “My voice is back, so that should be better. We will need to do things better, rebounding, defense. I expect us to be in the tournament hunt. Certainly better than last year. Just continue to teach. Super foundation last year, so we must build on that.”
The team will be led by junior captains Dylan Orr, Brogan Shaw and Boden Gould, along with sophomore captain Gabe Aucoin. Other juniors include Jordan Onorato, Josh Haycock, Lucas Ouimette and Josh Johnson. Sophomores Trevor Hanna, Kyle Fredericks, Tommy Guild, Elliot Dorr, Sawyer Stead and Jansen Morrison give Maines some size and speed.
“Josh Johnson returns and has improved greatly. Dylan Orr has starting potential. Brogan Shaw may be one of the better players both ways. Two sophomores have a lot of promise — Tommy Guild and Elliot Dorr,” said Maines, whose Shipbuilders host Mt. Ararat on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Lisbon
The Greyhounds return a large group from last season’s 10-8 squad. Lisbon was seeded ninth in Class B South and fell at No. 8 Wells in the prelims.
This season features a talented senior group, led by DJ Douglass, Corey Wiers and Hunter Davis. Juniors Neil LaRochelle and Owen Fish, along with sophomore Ring Ring, should score enough points to keep the Greyhounds in most games in the tough Mountain Valley Conference.
“DJ Douglass, Hunter Davis, Corey Wiers and Ring Ring are returning plays that will look to lead the team,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle, whose Greyhounds open Saturday at rival Oak Hill (2:30 p.m.). “They have the most varsity experience of all the returning players. We lost a couple key players to injury. The strengths of the team is our speed and athleticism. We have an excellent group of returning upperclassmen that give great effort and play as a team.”
Seth Tapley and Devon Marquis graduated, but Charlie Doyle, Calvin Jeselskis, Cam Gilman, Seth Leeman, Mason Booker, Hunter McCausland and Nick Ferrence are solid athletes who will surely battle for playing time.
“We are always looking to improve on every aspect of the game,” said Gentle. “We are not tall, so a main focus throughout the season will be in team rebounding, defending and creating transition points. Our goals are to compete every night, improve throughout the season and qualify for the postseason.”
Lisbon open its home slate on Tuesday against Telstar (6:30 p.m.).
Wiscasset
It was a t0ugh first season for first-year coach Jamie Jones, whose Wolverines won their first game against Carrabec but lost the final 17.
Most of this year’s returning players, according to Jones, played on the jayvee last season.
“We have a lot of new players and players that are new to the game or have little experience,” said Jones, whose program has small numbers this year. “We’re currently without a JV program. One of our main goals is to stay competitive while getting players game experience.”
Senior Billy Pinkham is back, along with juniors Marshall Weeks, Bret Osmond, Matt Eckert and Kasey Mills.
“Pinkham needs to take a leadership role this year and bring some stability on the offensive side of the ball,” said Jones.
Senior Noah Haggett is a newcomer, but Jones is looking for him to contribute after being away from basketball for a few years. Junior swing players Weeks, Osmond, Matt Mills and Kasey Mills will need to make an impact.
“Our keys to success this year are ball control and maximizing our defensive effort and efficiency,” Jones said.
Wiscasset opens at Boothbay on Saturday (7 p.m.). The home opener is against Carrabec on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Richmond
After two seasons in the MVC, Richmond has returned to the East-West Conference this year and will face a
challenging schedule that begins Tuesday at Old Orchard Beach (7 p.m.). The Bobcats open their home slate Dec. 14 against St. Dom’s (2:30 p.m.).
After a 5-13 season last year that saw Richmond just miss out on the Class C South postseason, the Bobcats return a solid core of players. Back are Kenny Bing, Calob Densmore, Ben Gardner, Dakotah Gilpatric, Cole Alexander and Chance Taylor.
Newcomers include Max Viselli, Connor Vachon, Lucas Cote, Max Trask, Caleb Blodgett and Will Miller, with the only loss being forward Danny Stewart to graduation.
Pine Tree Academy guard Chris Amisi defends against a st. Dom’s player in boys basketball action at Auburn last season. The Breakers host Seacoast Christian in their opener on Monday. (Bob Conn / The Times Record)
Pine Tree Academy
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