John Bapst Girls Varsity Basketball
Coach: Chris Woodside (3rd year)
2018/2019 record – Regular season 6-12, Finished 11th. Upset Ellsworth in Prelim before losing to Waterville in Quarterfinals
Strengths: 10 returning players from last years team. Play tough nosed defense game in and game out. Trust in each other. This is a close knit group that loves each other and believes in each other.
Top returning players- Ten Returners eight of which played significant minutes throughout the season last year. Seniors Sydney Ellis, Emily Mock, and Jayda Smith and Juniors Lacey Scanlon, Jamey Satterfield, Jamie McQuarrie, Savannah Libby, and Kate Harriman.
Top newcomers – Three Freshman that have opportunities to make impact early on Jenna McQuarrie, Caroline Cowing, and Lillian Higgins. They will push those returning players day in and day out to fight for their own opportunities.
Challenges: “There are no easy nights in the Big East, every team brings it night in and night out,Woodside said. “Anyone can win on a given night so you have to show up ready to play. there are no easy nights in the Big East.”
Woodside on the tough Big East and class B, “Caribou is well coached and plays tough defense anchored by Espling. Ellsworth, and Coach Pooler, brings back essentially everyone from a 13-5 team last year. Montigny could lead the league in scoring and Robidoux can dominate the glass. Foxcroft plays with great intensity every possession. While they are sure to miss Player of the Year Beaudry, I have no doubt others will step up and coach will have them ready to play night in and night out. Hermon is a perennial powerhouse. Coach Cameron has a pipeline of talent over there and it is seemingly never ending, they have a great mix of post talent with Tracy, Page, Wyman and guard speed and skill with Plissey, Lebel, Gallup, and Cameron. Houlton I have only seen a bit this summer as they are coming back up from Class C but from what I saw they are an athletic group that plays tenacious defense and up tempo on offense. As always playing in that Houlton gym is tough with the great fan base and amazing band. Don’t sleep on MDI. While they did graduate all 5 starters from a year ago Coach Barker has a young talented group ready to rock and roll with several returning young players who got big minutes last year during their run to the State Title. On the island its safe to assume they don’t rebuild, they reload. Just like Houlton the MDI gym is one of the loudest in the state. Old Town returns essentially everyone from a 14-4 team last year. They are fast athletic and have individuals that can score at all 3 levels. Richards will lead the way scoring and could lead the league but don’t sleep on the rest of the team or you’ll quickly be down 10 wondering why you ever thought it was a good idea to leave them open. Orono is lead by Coach Donato who is one of Maine’s most successful coaches in history. He has his teams well prepared each and every night and they never give an inch. While they were interior oriented in the past I expect they will be more guard oriented this year and include more pressing schemes. Coach Hudson and the Presque Isle Wildcats are a fixture in the tournament. Like death and taxes you can count on Presque Isle to be a tournament team. You know they will be prepared and they will shoot a whole lot of 3’s, and unfortunately for their opponents they make a lot of them too. WA has been on the rise since Coach Preston took over. After a few years struggling to get wins they were able to be much more competitive last year winning games and playing good basketball. He has instilled belief in the group and they bring back a large portion of their core looking to build on last years success. This doesn’t include KVAC teams like Waterville (undefeated in regular season last year, Northern Maine runners up, return entire team), Winslow, Oceanside, and MCI. Class B Basketball is sure to be fun this year.”
Outlook: with a solid mix of returning players and newcomers, the Crusaders will hope to host a prelim game.
