New coaches join familiar names this basketball season

By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    With the opening of the high school basketball season on Monday, there will be a few new coaches along with many familiar names.
    The first countable game of the season is Friday, Dec. 9.
    The Houlton High School girls will once again be coached by Shawn Graham. Last year, the Lady Shires finished third in the Class C Heal Point standings and faced Washington Academy for the second year in a row in the Eastern Maine quarterfinals. The Raiders advanced, defeating Houlton,  43-37.
    The team graduated three seniors — Taylor Bailey, Katie Cone and Alisha Ledger — but returns a strong core of players to attempt another playoff run.
    The Houlton Shiretowners will be under the direction of a new, but very well-known coach, referee and radio broadcaster, Rob Moran. Moran takes over for Mike Fogarty.
    Houlton had a dismal season a year ago and Moran is hoping the energy of young players will ignite the Shires’ fire once again.
    Hodgdon High School and the Greater Houlton Christian Academy are the only schools with the same coaches from a year ago, as Rob Smith and Vaughn Farrar lead the Hawks, while Sam Henderson and Steve Gray take on the Eagles’ duties.
    The Hodgdon High boys will be poised for the new season, hoping to close the gap from last year as they were  5-13 and ranked 17th in the Class C standings. The top 10 teams reached the playoffs.
    “As the season went on, we were becoming more and more competitive and giving some good teams a run for their money,” said Smith. “Last year, we played a tough schedule. Of the teams we played, only four did not make it to the playoffs.”
    The Lady Hawks finished 16th last year in Class C, but coach Farrar’s troops have matured. They too will be looking to reach the postseason behind hard work. The Lady Hawks graduated five seniors, but return a nucleus of four seniors and four juniors to boost the team this season.
    The GHCA girls will be small in number, but big in heart, as they look to be competitive in Class D. The Lady Eagles finished dead last in the standings a year ago, 20th, with a winless record, so they will look to improve their win ratio and standing overall this year.
    The Eagle boys, on the other hand, ended the season just out of the reach of the tournament in 12th with a 6-12 record. GHCA will rally behind their senior leaders and hope to bring their underclassmen along through the year.
    Katahdin coach Dale Fiske transitioned from the girls program into the boys this season, while Heather Lyons fills the vacancy Fiske left on the girl’s team.
    Lyons who teaches science at the high school will try her hand for the first time at coaching basketball. She has coaching experience in soccer with the middle school girls.
    Lyons played her high school basketball at Mt. View High School in Thorndike and graduated in 1997. She went on to play ball at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, graduating in 2001.
    “We are a very young team with no seniors and a few returning varsity players,” said Lyons. “We are focused this year on teamwork and gaining experience. We have a solid group of girls who are willing to work hard to improve.”
    The Southern Aroostook boys will be led by veteran coach Vaughn Sleeper, while the girls’ team features a newcomer to the varsity ranks in Harris Tucker. Tucker has been the junior varsity girls coach and will replace Cliff Urquhart.
    The SACS boys lost four seniors from last year’s squad, but return a group of seniors and underclassmen to be in contention for a postseason run.
    The Lady Warriors will return three seniors, three juniors and three sophomores for a balanced squad.
    The East Grand girls’ program will once again be under the direction of Susan Lyndsey, while Marcus Crocker will move up to take over the boys’ program.
    Crocker graduated from East Grand School and played for coach Troy Cilley during the Vikings’ run in the Eastern Maine Tournament. A 2009 graduate of Thomas College, Crocker isn’t brand new, as he spent the 2009-10 season as assistant coach.
    According to Chris Young, athletic director, Crocker is ready for the challenge of running the team. The focus this year will be defense, conditioning and rebounding. The team will suit up just one senior, so they are a young squad. Crocker’s players will build on defense and then as the season progresses, they will look to expand in other areas.