Area teams begin quests for basketball tournament berths

By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer

Much is different as the new high school basketball season kicks off this weekend.

Eastern Maine is now North while Western Maine is South, based on a switch in geographic labeling that may not last more than the next two-year classification cycle given such new deviations from reality as Portland in Class AA North and Forest Hills of Jackman in Class D South.

Certainly the biggest change is the creation of a Class AA featuring the state’s largest basketball-playing schools, with the trickle-down effect of the newly expanded five-class system statewide to provide for reduced enrollment gaps between the largest and smallest schools in each class in the spirit of enhanced competitive balance.

What hasn’t changed among area high school programs are their classifications within the new format.

Foxcroft Academy remains in Class B, Dexter, Piscataquis of Guilford and Penquis Valley of Milo are still Class C programs and Greenville will compete in Class D.

Here’s a look at the boys’ varsity teams at those schools, with girls’ basketball season previews to come next week.

Foxcroft Academy Ponies

Coach: Tyler Erickson

Erickson, the former PCHS standout, takes over at Foxcroft from longtime head coach Dave Carey after a successful stint at Greenville.

He’ll field a team that may start slowly due to some key injuries. But as those injuries heal the Ponies should be in the competitive mix among what looks to be a deep Class B North field that includes Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor, Ellsworth, Old Town and Class B newcomers Central of Corinth and Orono.

The Ponies are led by senior forward Hunter Smith, the reigning Big East Conference player of the year.

The 6-foot-4 forward has been limited to non-contact drills during preseason, the result of a dislocated hip suffered during a preseason football game in late August. Erickson hopes to have Smith back for the season opener at home against Ellsworth on Saturday night, but if not he is expected to provide both a statistical and leadership presence on the court early in the regular season.

Foxcroft is deep in returning backcourt players with senior Dylan-Harmon Weeks and sophomores Drew Dankert and Nick Clawson, though Clawson also is recovering from a football injury.

The Ponies also inherited two impact transfers from neighboring schools, with senior forward Noah Allen from Penquis expected to complement Smith’s two-way play up front while junior Nick Fortier from PCHS should help spark Foxcroft’s transition game from the small forward slot, though Fortier was injured during his team’s exhibition game against Winslow last Friday night.

Look for Foxcroft to employ a fast-paced offense and play more man-to-man defense than in recent years, as those were focal points of a summer schedule under Erickson that included some 30 games.

“We were just establishing what we want to run,” he said. “We played a lot of man this summer, and offensively we’ve tried to push the pace a little bit because I think we’re going to be more athletic so we’ve worked on getting the ball up the court and looking for a good shot early.

“But we have a lot of refining to do.”

Dexter Tigers

Coach: Peter Murray

The Dexter Tigers will be young this winter, with no seniors and just two players with significant varsity experience.

But veteran coach Peter Murray is optimistic that the chemistry within the roster will enable the Tigers to battle for a Class C playoff berth after a 9-9 season that produced a preliminary-round game last winter.

Dexter will feature a third-year starter in junior Zac White, who will shift to forward after playing guard as a freshman and sophomore. A second returning starter is sophomore swingman Josh Simcock.

Junior William Strauch will handle point-guard duties for the Tigers, while others expected to contribute include forwards Jason Campbell, Brayden Miller, C.J. Cooper, center Jon Brooks and guards Nathan Boudreau, Chandler Perkins, Jacob Bickford, Matt Richards and Brandon Allen.

“There will definitely be some challenging nights because of our youth and inexperience,” said Murray. “However, the team chemistry is outstanding. They are a hard-working, team-first group of players. Despite their youth, the leadership is excellent. I very much look forward to working with this fine group of young men.”

Dexter will be the second-largest school in the new Class C North, trailing only George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, which looms as one of the preseason favorites in the division along with Lee Academy, Schenck of East Millinocket and defending Eastern D champion Fort Fairfield.

Piscataquis Pirates

Coach: Jamie Russell

PCHS suffered heavy graduation losses after advancing to last winter’s Class C quarterfinals at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

But the Pirates do return 6-foot-1 senior guard Ben Morrill, who may be asked to play more of a frontcourt role this season once he fully recovers from a broken thumb suffered during soccer season.

Sophomore Bryce Gilbert was effective as Piscataquis’ sixth man as a freshman, and his impact should grow considerably with increased size and experience.

Two other seniors, guard Brandon Leavitt and forward Devin Ronco, also will be needed to step forward on the varsity stages, as will sophomores Camron Kane, Dillon Drew and Damyan True as the Pirates seek to return to postseason play.

Penquis Valley Patriots

Coach: Jason Mills

Defense is rarely an issue at Penquis, so the development of consistent offensive sources may determine whether the Patriots can return to postseason play this winter.

Coach Jason Mills does have a cast of returning players to draw upon including Clayton Preble, Charles Artus, Devon Cuthbertson, Colin Beckett, Justin Valvo, Josh Martin and Josh Blanchard.

The Patriots also hope to get contributions from such varsity newcomers as Jeremy Martin, Noah Zambrano and Derek Pearson.

“One of our key goals is to continue to build on our individual work from this summer and be one of the 12 teams to advance to postseason play in Class C,” said Patriots coach Jason Mills. “A key for us will be developing two key scorers for the season to back our solid defense.”

Greenville Lakers

Coach: Bill Foley

It’s a season of transition at Greenville, with Bill Foley taking over as head coach after working  as an assistant coach with the Lakers a year ago.

There’s also a new schedule for the Lakers, who have returned to the Penobscot Valley Conference after a relatively lengthy stint in the Western Maine East-West Conference.

Greenville will continue to play in Class D South (formerly West), but while the Lakers will retain its rivalries with Forest Hills and Valley of Bingham,  its schedule will be predominantly North teams that include such former Penquis League rivals as PCHS, Penquis and Penobscot Valley of Howland.

“This year is a big question mark if there ever was one,” said Foley, whose roster includes no seniors but four juniors and 11 sophomores and freshmen. “We will be expecting big minutes from the young kids.”

One of those sophomores, Nick Foley, led the Lakers in scoring last winter as they reached the Western D prelims.

The coach’s son will be an offensive key again this winter, but Greenville hopes to field a more balanced attack this year thanks to the contributions of such youngsters as sophomore Evan Bjork and freshman Jay Owens.

Foley said Valley is the clear preseason favorite in Class D South but beyond that there’s opportunity for plenty of teams — including his own.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs,” he said. “New coach, new conference, new schedule, young team, there’s lots of questions, but if we can get in I think we can make some noise. I’m really looking forward to watching us grow as a unit as the season progresses.”