Gardiner’s Taylor Takatsu, left, looks to pass over the defense of Mt. Ararat’s Elena Willis during a girls basketball game Jan. 14 in Topsham. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
The weather forecast last week was showing snow on Friday, enough that could wipe out the Gardiner girls basketball team’s game with Camden Hills.
So coach Mike Gray, whose team had a game against Messalonskee scheduled for Saturday, suggested a plan: Let’s play two.
“We weren’t going to shy away from it,” he said. “To us, it was ‘What do we have to do to get the games in?'”
So the Tigers doubled up Saturday, playing both the Windjammers and Eagles. Gardiner beat Camden Hills 42-26 in the first game, and then topped Messalonskee 44-23 in the nightcap.
“These kids are in good enough shape at this point where playing two games shouldn’t be that much different than going through a full practice,” Gray said. “They did a great job responding to the challenge. The girls were really excited about it. It’s just something different than what we’ve done before.”
Gray said he got differing reactions when he told people of what the plan was.
“After we announced we were doing this, I talked to so many coaches and there was no middle ground. Their responses were all either ‘You’re crazy, this is a terrible idea’ or ‘I love it,'” he said. “(The players) just saw this as a different opportunity to show what we have. Now that it’s done, I’m glad we did it. If we had lost a game or two in there, we probably would have kicked ourselves over it.”
Gray said it was “mentally draining” to go through the two games, but said his team managed to keep its intensity throughout the 64 minutes.
“I didn’t see us losing steam any,” he said. “The defensive effort stayed where it was. … I thought we finished both games really strong.”
Gray said he gained an appreciation for the Class D teams that often play doubleheaders on weekends due to travel difficulties.
“We kind of joked about that in practice,” he said. “(I told them) we don’t realize how good we have it, where our longest trip is a little over an hour and it’s all highway. Some of these other schools are traveling hours upon hours through back roads and/or boats to get wherever.”
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Forest Hills’ Mason Desjardins (11) drives to the hoop and dishes the ball to teammate Hiram Logsdon (54) as Rangeley’s Chase Carmichael (33) defends during a boys basketball game Dec. 29 in the Capital City Hoop Classic at the Augusta Civic Center. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Mason Desjardins became the latest member of the Forest Hills boys basketball team to reach the 1,000 career point mark when he scored 16 points for the Tigers in a 76-26 win over Vinalhaven on Monday in Jackman.
Desjardins, a junior, entered the game at 997 points. Among the 1,000-point club is his brother, Parker Desjardins, who would wind up scoring more than 2,000 points in his career and is now in his freshman season with the Thomas College men’s basketball team.
“The big thing with Mason, and the same thing with his brother, first off, they’re just an outstanding family of people,” Forest Hills head coach Anthony Amero said. “Their parents have taught them work ethic from Day 1 and they get after it… They work with personal trainers, they take 500-plus shots a day. They do their workouts religiously. There’s not a day that goes by where they don’t have a basketball in their hand. Mason’s right there with his brother, he’s earned everything he’s gotten and is well deserved.”
But Mason Desjardins has used this season to make a mark all his own. A freshman on the 2019 Class D state championship team, where his brother was the standout, Mason Desjardins has not only been a top scorer for the Tigers, but he also leads the team in assists.
“In 2019, when we won states, (Mason) was our third-leading scorer and he played behind two 1,000 point scorers, because Hunter Cuddy scored 1,000 that year, his brother scored 1,000 that year,” Amero said. “The next year, his brother is on pace to break 2,000, so he’s second fiddle. This year, he’s kind of taken over the reins and it’s been fun to watch. He’s a different player than his brother. As good as he is as a scorer, he’s good in assists. He leads the team in assists, and that tells you a lot.”
It’s worked out perfectly for Forest Hills, now 17-0 and the No. 1 seed in Class D South.
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Erskine’s Liam Perfetto, left, plays defense on Cony’s Luke Briggs during a Jan. 18 boys basketball game in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Another player is on the verge of joining Desjardins in the milestone club, as Cony’s Luke Briggs is 14 points away from the 1,000 mark. The Rams host Lawrence on Wednesday, which will give the senior a final chance to join Simon McCormick, Andrew Pullen, Walker Cooper and Dave Parquette among Cony 1,000-point scorers.
“Last year he only played 12 games, so for him to be able to get to that milestone is pretty cool,” Cony coach T.J. Maines said. “A thousand points is just an awesome milestone for him. He’s put a lot of work into his game. Since the time he was a little kid in rec basketball, he’s loved the game and he’s just put a lot of time into it. … It’s a great honor for Luke, and I know he shares it with his parents, who have really pushed him along the way.”
Briggs began the week as the second leading scorer in Class A North behind Nokomis’ Cooper Flagg, taking an average of 19.9 points per game into Monday. In a game against Maranacook on Saturday, he scored 25 points while going 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
“Luke’s really stepped up. He’s had a really good season, and he’s been really unselfish,” Maines said. “This has always been a goal for him, but he hasn’t put it ahead of team success. He’s had plenty of opportunities where he could have a contested shot at the rim, and he’ll dump it off for an easy basket for his teammate. He’s done a really good job in that way.”
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What was shaping up to be one of the highlight girls basketball games of the week was wiped away, as the matchup between 16-0 Hall-Dale and 11-2 Carrabec was canceled due to the snow that closed school Tuesday.
Carrabec coach Skip Rugh said it was disappointing for his team not to get the chance to avenge December’s 50-48 loss to the Bulldogs. There is still the possibility of a rematch in Saturday’s Mountain Valley Conference championship game.
“We’re upset about it,” he said. “It was going to be a fun game, they were allowing fans, we had quite a charge of people coming, it would have been a playoff atmosphere. It’s a great game to have before playoffs start, and it’s a measuring tool to see where we’re at and see how much more work we’ve got to do.”
Rugh said he likes the balance of his team, as players like Brooke Welch, Julia Baker, Molly Hay and Courtney Rollins have joined standout forward Cheyenne Cahill as team leaders.
“The majority of the girls are seniors, and they understand they need to step up,” Rugh said. “I think that’s made us a better team. All of the pressure isn’t on Chey to score, it’s on Chey to play good team ball. … With the other girls stepping up, it just takes some pressure off of her.”
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