Class C North basketball previews

The George Stevens Academy boys basketball team relied on a talented crop of young players to claim the Blue Hill school’s first state championship in more than a decade last winter.
Now that core, led by junior guard Taylor Schildroth, is a year older, and that is a scary prospect for the rest of Class C North.
“GSA is clearly the favorite,” said Dexter coach Peter Murray, who has a pretty talented team of his own.
Coach Dwayne Carter’s Eagles, who graduated only three seniors, lost only one game in their state championship run last winter, and the Eagles hope to be even stronger this season.
It all starts with the talented Schildroth, last year’s regional tournament MVP, and 6-foot-6 classmate Max Mattson.
Schildroth averaged about 18 points per game last season, while Mattson averaged more than five blocked shots and 10 rebounds, and Carter expects those two players to be even better.
“They’re much improved over last year,” Carter said. “Taylor’s just an all-around really good player, very confident, probably more confident than last year. Max has improved his game a lot, his scoring a lot.”
Senior forward Jared Chase, who is 6-foot-3, is another contributor and one of the Eagles’ best defenders, Carter said. Junior Stefan Simmons and senior Beckett Slayton also will be among George Stevens Academy’s mainstays.
George Stevens Academy will be battle-tested come February, with a rugged schedule that includes two matchups with reigning Class B North champ and Hancock County rival Ellsworth.
Everyone in Class C will be taking aim at the Eagles.
“Everyone’s going to be gunning for us because they’re going to bring their best game no matter what,” Carter said. “The kids know that, they’ve talked about it already. We’re going to have to be up for the challenge.”
One team equipped to give the Eagles a run for their championship throne is Schenck of East Millinocket, which fell to George Stevens Academy in the regional semifinals last year.
Coach Darrick Thompson’s Wolverines return a veteran nucleus led by 6-4 guard Justin Thompson, the coach’s son, and backcourt mate Chris King.
The Wolverines’ backcourt also includes senior Cody Pelletier, junior Riley Dionne and sophomore guard Travis Thompson, also the coach’s son.
“I’ll have a solid nine players that can play for me this year,” coach Thompson said.
Schenck’s frontcourt includes seniors Mitch McDunnah and Eric Green, while Justin Thompson’s versatility allows him to play anywhere on the floor.
Coach Thompson also is hopeful his team learned something from last winter’s semifinal loss to the eventual state champions.
“They look forward to closing that gap this year,” Thompson said.
Aroostook County entry Fort Fairfield, which earned the No. 2 seed only to be upset in the quarterfinals by fellow County contender Hodgdon, also has a veteran returning nucleus. Like Schenck, the Tigers will be deep in the backcourt.
“Our backcourt should be fairly strong,” Fort Fairfield coach Logan McLaughlin said. “Our interior play is something we’re going to have to work on. I’ve got a lot of returning players that are coming back from last year’s team that should show a lot of improvement.”
That core includes seniors Chris Giberson and Ryan Player and junior Isaac Cyr, all guards. Also looking to play important roles are juniors Jared Harvey and Malcolm Langer and seniors Carter Bruce and Landon Kinney.
With a lack of height, the Tigers will look to ignite their offense with pressure defense, and wear opponents out.
“Typically, my coaching philosophy, I like a running game,” McLaughlin said. “We like a fast-paced game.”
McLaughlin is hoping the combination of being knocked out of the tourney as a No. 2 seed last winter and the fact that most of his players competed on Fort Fairfield’s soccer team, a regional champion in 2015 and runner-up this fall, will provide motivation.
Harris’s Pandas will be reloading after losing five of their top seven players, but Lee welcomes back senior guard Nathan Gilman and senior forward Travon Rhodes, two guys from whom Harris will be seeking leadership this season.
In addition, junior guard and forward Tony Chu, junior point guard Sammy Huang, senior forward Howie Francis and senior guard Dmitrii Krivorotko will be other key players for the Pandas.
“We expect that bunch to lead us,” Harris said. “It’s a talented group.”
Dexter, a regional quarterfinalist last winter, will look to improve on that finish as well.
Murray’s Tigers did not have a senior in their lineup last season, and while Dexter is not very tall, Murray’s club does have depth.
“That’s how we were successful last year,” Murray said. “We spread it out.”
Dexter welcomes back guards Zach White and Brayden Miller, both seniors, along with senior point guard William Strauch.
Senior Jason Campbell and junior Josh Simcock will see time on the wings for the Tigers, while guard Chandler Perkins and forward C.J. Cooper, two more seniors, round out Dexter’s depth.
A lot of those Tigers competed on the school’s football team that made it to the regional championship game, and Murray hopes that experience can translate to the hardwood.
“That left them with a certain hunger,” he said. “We were left with a bad taste in our mouth.”
Other dark horse possibilities include always-tough Hodgdon, Piscataquis, Penobscot Valley of Howland and Penquis.
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The Narraguagus girls basketball team made history the old-fashioned way last winter.
In claiming the first state championship in program history, the Knights of Harrington surrendered only 29.2 points per game in their four tournament outings.
If coach Heather Thompson’s Knights want to repeat this winter, they’re going to need to have the same type of defensive mindset after losing three starters.
“We lost our height, we’re not very tall this year,” Thompson said, noting her tallest player is 5-foot-8 sophomore Kylee Joyce. “We just have to make some adjustments, still focus on defense and rebounding and being really aggressive.”
While the defending state champions did graduate standout center Kelli Kennedy and three other seniors, the Knights do have some returning depth. Returnees include Joyce; junior guard Madison Leighton; sophomore guard Lanie Perry; and senior guard and forward Kayla Toppin.
Thompson said Caitlin Reynolds, Hannah Alley, Shi Weed, Madison Prague, Keanna Reynolds and Liza Frye could see valuable minutes this season as well. Reynolds, Alley and Toppin are the Knights’ lone seniors.
“They’re hungry. They got a taste of a championship last year and they liked it,” Thompson said. “They’re very capable of playing hardcore basketball.”
Joyce likely will be counted on to fill the inside void left by Kennedy, while Perry, Toppin and Leighton will play key roles in the backcourt.
Fortunately for Thompson, Narraguagus will have multiple players who she can count on to put the ball in the basket.
“And that’s fine,” she said. “I would rather have five players that could play. They all contribute something different.”
One team that could be poised to take monumental steps forward this winter is Stearns of Millinocket.
Coach Nick Cullen’s Minutemen made it to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor last February before losing to Dexter in the quarterfinals, but a number of his players have championship experience from regional softball championships the last two springs.
“The girls are really pumped up,” he said. “We’re looking forward to a really good season.”
Cullen returns four starters in senior point guard Emma Alley, junior forward Paige Ingersoll, senior center Mackenzie Carter (5-9) and senior guard Abby Russell.
The Minutemen also will welcome Alley’s freshman sister, Katherine, into the mix, giving Stearns one of the deepest backcourts in Class C North.
“The style we play, it’s nice to have some kids come in off the bench,” said Cullen, whose Minutemen will go roughly 10 deep this year.
Stearns also will feature juniors Callie Waceken, Marissa Marter and Sidney Farquhar, sophomores Julia Stanley and Bailey Girsa and freshman Adria Doane.
Cullen said making it to Bangor last winter ignited his team’s fire over the offseason.
“It’s just amazing the work ethic they have,” he said. “They just don’t stop until they get what they want.”
And that could potentially be a shot at a state championship, something no girls program at Stearns has accomplished.
The team that ended the Minutemen’s season last year, Dexter, always plays stingy defense and features one of Class C North’s top players in senior center Megan Peach.
Coach Jody Grant’s Tigers have already had to deal with some early adversity, with senior point guard Cidney Pratt suffering a torn ACL in the offseason. Grant said he is hopeful Pratt, who underwent surgery and elected to wear a brace, will be able to go.
Regardless, the leadership of Peach will be vital for Dexter, which lost to Narraguagus in the semifinals last winter.
“Her leadership has really grown,” Grant said. “She’s really continuing to grow as a young lady, which bodes well for us.”
Dexter also welcomes back senior guard Abby Webber, whom Grant called “one of the best defenders in our league,” and senior forward Kayli Cunningham, who is expected to be in the Tigers’ starting rotation after coming off the bench last winter.
Juniors Kaitlyn Webber and Becca Barton and sophomores Kaylee Deering and Danielle Cummings also will be key players for Dexter.
Tradition-laden Calais has a new head coach familiar to Down East basketball circles in longtime Woodland girls coach Arnie Clark.
The Blue Devils graduated just three seniors, and they always play one of the most challenging schedules in Class C.
“We do play Houlton and Washington Academy, two Class B schools,” Clark said. “Those will be challenging.”
Calais lost to Fort Fairfield in the quarterfinals last winter, and Clark is hopeful his club can make even bigger strides this season.
“We’re going to have a mix of youth and experience,” he said. “It depends on how we can blend that all together.”
Fort Fairfield, which won 17 games and earned the No. 1 seed in Class C North last winter before falling to Penobscot Valley of Howland in the semifinals, will be in somewhat of a rebuild mode this winter, according to head coach Larry Gardner, who is in his 28th year.
Gardner’s Tigers graduated four seniors off of last year’s squad, and he won’t have any seniors this season.
“We’ve got to see who is going to step up and how hard the kids are going to step up,” he said.
If anything, there isn’t expected to be that one team that is looming as a heavy favorite.
“I think there’ll be 4-5 teams that are kind of at the top of the pack,” Cullen said. “I hope to be one of them.”
Other teams expected to be in the mix include George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, Bucksport and Piscataquis.