Boys basketball: Class D titles have become family tradition for Forest Hills

Forest Hills senior Mason Desjardins, looks to make a move to the hoop past Seacoast Christian defender Sonny Johnson during a Class D South semifinal game Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Winning has become a tradition with the Forest Hills boys basketball program. A tradition that for years now, in some cases, has been passed on from brother to brother.

Since 2012, the Tigers have made six appearances out of 10 possible Class D finals (there was no tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). They have won four state championships.

And on Monday, Forest Hills (18-3) will make its seventh appearance in a Class D final — it’s fourth straight — fighting for its fifth title, when it takes on Southern Aroostook (21-0) at 7:45 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Among the starting five for the Tigers will be Cooper Daigle and Mason Desjardins.

Both are hoping to continue the winning tradition established by their older brothers.

Desjardins, a senior guard, is the Tigers’ leading scorer. A self-described “finesse player,” Desjardins is at his best from beyond the arc, displaying one of the smoothest shots in the Class D tournament. Mason Desjardins is following in the footsteps of his brother Parker Desjardins, who amassed more than 2,000 points during his career with the Tigers (2016-2021), only the 19th player in state history to hit the mark. He was also a member of two state title teams (2019, 2020). A sophomore guard for the Thomas College men’s basketball team in Waterville, Parker Desjardins led the Terriers in scoring this season (13.4 points per game).

“I think it’s going to be a great game, (Southern) Aroostook is a great team,” Desjardins said. “They got the better of us last year. We’re going to do our best this upcoming week to prepare mentally and physically and hopefully it goes our way this time.”

“Just to see all the work they put in pay off, it’s just good to see,” Parker Desjardins said. “And Coach (Anthony) Amero, it shows how good of a coach he is, to take that group, other groups over the last 10 years, back to states with him, it’s good to see.”

Mason Desjardins has long held his own on the court for Forest Hills as well, surpassing the 1,000-point mark last season. The pair have enjoyed success together on the court, as both were members of the 2020 Class D title team.

“One of the best things about (sibling success) it is the competition, they help you get better,” Mason Desjardins said. “They always come into our practices and help us become better players.”

Cooper Daigle’s family ties are a bit more of an extreme case for Forest Hills. A hard-charging junior forward, Cooper is the youngest in a set of four brothers — including Tanner, Dawson and Jackman Daigle — that have tasted success with the Tigers. If Forest Hills beats Southern Aroostook, Cooper would tie the family lead with two Gold Balls, joining Tanner (2013, 2015) and Jackman (2019, 2020). Dawson was a member of the 2015 title team.

“It’s kind of like a novel written, basically,” Tanner Daigle said. “The stars aligned, we just happen to be that set of brothers that share a name that happened to work out like that from the oldest on down. You can’t write a better book than it.”

With that many titles, debates can get interesting between the brothers on who had the better career.

“It’s for sure a big topic at the dinner table with the family,” Cooper Daigle said. “We get into some arguments sometimes, but it’s always fun.”

Forest Hills sophomore guard Blaine Nadeau, left, and junior forward Cooper Daigle go for a rebound during the Class D South championship game Feb. 25 at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“It’s the classic case of brothers will be brothers,” Tanner Daigle said. “Obviously, me being the oldest one, I would say that I had the best career, my team was the best one to step on that court. Then Dawson has his moment where, ‘Hey, you guys wouldn’t have won without my two free throws.’ Jackman comes in and goes on a team that goes 44-0 and wins two states back-to-back. Now Cooper is on the rise for (possibly) winning two, hopefully a third next year, if they win this year. We all have our own little bits and pieces that we throw at each other and we compete to see who was the best athlete overall. We talk stats and whatnot. It’s definitely a brothers be brothers sort of deal.”

The constant among all those teams is Amero, who has been with the program for over a quarter-century. Amero credits the families within the Forest Hills program for being dedicated over the years.

“For me, it’s more than I ever could have dreamed of when we started this 26 years ago, that’s for sure,” Amero said. “For the kids, part of the reason it’s been so successful is the commitment of the parents, the grandparents, the guardians, aunts and uncles. We’ve got to play summer ball. We’re two-plus hours to Augusta and that’s generally where we go in that area to play games. That means people leave work early… I think that’s why you see a lot of the traditional family names (on the team), because they buy into it and help others when they come into it and I give a lot of the credit to the people at home that support those kids. There’s no way we do what we do without them.”

Fun family feuds will be put aside Monday. Southern Aroostook is the defending state champion, beating Forest Hills 81-62 in the Class D final last season. Cooper Daigle said the Tigers will have to put together their best effort to beat the Warriors.

“I definitely think it’s going to be a very good matchup, Southern Aroostook is a very good team,” Cooper Daigle said. “But we’ll see what happens.”

The alums are doing their part as well. Tanner Daigle said that he and his brothers— all wearing tiger-striped suits — will be cheering on Cooper from the stands in Bangor. With the college season over, Parker Desjardins has made multiple trips to Jackman from Waterville (90 miles and nearly two hours away), bringing along teammate Sawyer Deprey, to help scrimmage against the current Forest Hills squad, a tradition that has gone on within the program for years.

“Mason and I know each other’s game so well, I try to play him like other teams will,” Parker Desjardins said. “Get some good runs (going) so he’s prepared for these good teams (in the playoffs).”