BY TRAVIS LAZARCZYK

Staff Writer

This was the breakout season the Waterville Senior High School boys basketball team has been waiting for.

After going a combined 7-29 the previous two seasons, the Purple Panthers won 10 games in 2011-12. It was Waterville’s first winning season since 1999. The Panthers also made their first playoff appearance since 2004, when they played in Eastern Maine Class A.

“Any coach is optimistic coming into a season,” Waterville head coach Jason Briggs said. “Talking to my peers, I remember talking to Coach (Jim) Bessey at the Mt. Blue tournament, and he said ‘I think you guys are going to be better than what people think.’ “

For his work in leading Waterville to the playoffs for the first time in eight years, Jason Briggs has been named the Morning Sentinel Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. Madison’s Mike Packard, who was selected the Mountain Valley Coach of the Year, and Anthony Amero of Forest Hills, who coached the Tigers to the Class D West championship, were also considered.

“Something clicked with these kids, and I can’t pinpoint a certain time. Just every single day in practice was the indicator. You can tell, this group’s got it. The energy every single day in practice,” Briggs said.

The Panthers improved despite injuries and discipline issues that meant they played half the season without a full roster.

“We played 50 percent of our games without one or two of our top seven kids. We were never intact with this group, really. I think that says a lot about their ability to overcome everything,” Briggs said.

The turnaround began right after the 2010-11 season ended, Briggs said.

“We had our banquet, and literally the next morning, a freshman at the time, Chris Hale, was dragging kids into the gym,” Briggs said.

The players saw the results, and that made getting them to buy into the defense-first, physical style of play was easy.

“(Briggs) shows up every single day with a mission, and that mission’s to make everybody a better basketball player,” Hale said.

A graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and the University of Maine at Farmington, Briggs cites three of his high school coaches, Ted Moccia (football), Doug Craib (basketball) and Mike Loveless (baseball) as some of his biggest coaching influences. Briggs said he decided he wanted to coach when he was in seventh grade.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a profession. I knew I wanted to coach. That’s what got me into teaching,” Briggs said. “I didn’t really care what age group.”

Other influences, Briggs said, are Jim Bessey and Bob Brown, who this week retired from coaching at Mt. Blue and Cheverus, respectively.

“Coach (Bob) Brown from Cheverus was actually a pretty good resource for me this year, because we played matchup zone, and he’s kind of a master with the matchup,” Briggs said. “I attended some Cheverus practices and got thinking this might be a system we want to pursue.”

Come game time, Briggs was ready for any situation, Hale said.

“He has a really high basketball IQ,” Hale said. “He recognizes things very quickly. He always has counters to the other team’s counters.”

Briggs knew his team had turned a corner when it shook off a tough loss to rival Winslow early in the season. The Panthers won three of their next four games, including a victory over a strong Leavitt team.

“The Winslow game, in years past, would really take the wind out of our sails,” Briggs said.

Now that the Panthers have made the playoffs, the next step is a trip to the Bangor Auditorium for the regional quarterfinals.

“Just to compete in that environment was a huge step for next year,” Briggs said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

[email protected]