BINGHAM — Delia Hill is the first to admit her extended family doesn’t talk about much other than basketball. This year, then, is one for which she’s been waiting a while.

Now an eighth-grader, Hill is in her first year of varsity play for the Valley girls basketball team. Her head coach? None other than her grandfather and a longtime icon at the school, Gordon Hartwell.

“It’s really exciting,” Hill said. “Pretty much all we talk about (as a family) is basketball, so I’ve been waiting for this year for a while now. I’ve seen how he’s done in past years and watched him coach for a while, and now that I’m playing for him, it’s really great.”

She’s not the only one of Hartwell’s grandchildren suiting up for the Cavaliers this season. Her older sister, junior Madeline Hill, and cousin, Liana Hartwell, are also playing for their grandfather as members of a Valley team that’s currently rolling through Class D South at 15-0.

“It’s wonderful,” Gordon Hartwell said. “Not many people can say they’ve had the experience of coaching not one (granddaughter) but three at the same time. It’s really satisfying, and I’m enjoying watching them succeed, get better and help us get to where we want to be as a team.”

Gordon Hartwell was a star in his own right at Valley, leading the boys team to its first-ever regional championship in 1974 as the team won the Class D West crown. A quarter-century later, his twin sons, Jason and Luke Hartwell, were part of the Valley run that produced six straight state titles and a state-record 101 consecutive wins.

Carrying on the family name now is Liana Hartwell, Luke’s daughter. Averaging 14.9 points per game, the eighth-grader has had an impressive season that’s included a 12-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double Jan. 2 against Forest Hills and a 16-point, 10-rebound, eight-steal game Jan. 13 against PCHS.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be as good as (my dad), but it’s been really good to have him and (my grandfather) be there for me and talk me through it,” Hartwell said. “It’s fun to carry on that legacy because it’s special, and hopefully, I can add to it and win a Gold Ball if I can.”

Madeline Hill, the oldest of the trio, has been Valley’s headliner this season. A junior, Hill has already reached the 1,000-point mark, doing so Jan. 19 against Forest Hills as part of a season-high 33-point effort. She is averaging a team-best 22.0 points per game this season.

“I just had a moment where I realized how important this sport is to me and to everyone else, so I figured I might as well step it up,” Hill said. “I figured, if I step up, I know other people will if they see me taking that leadership. I think we’ve had that mentality as a team, and I’m really proud of how we’ve treated this season.”

Delia Hill doesn’t get the playing time of her sister and cousin just yet, but she did have a nine-point, seven-rebound performance Jan. 5 against Wiscasset. She and Madeline are younger sisters of Brielle Hill, another of Hartwell’s granddaughters who played for Valley last year before graduating.

The basketball discussion, as Delia noted, doesn’t stop outside the confines of the school gymnasium. Between the Valley trio and three cousins, family get-togethers that feature three-on-three basketball games, Madeline Hill said, are commonplace, and the eldest Hartwell often watches.

“We hang out a lot as an entire family, and we’re all really close with him,” Liana Hartwell said. “Like Delia said, we’re always talking about basketball together; basketball is the main topic at every family event. He knows a lot about the game, and it’s great to learn from him.”

On the court? Well, Coach Hartwell, his three granddaughters agreed, isn’t much of the yelling type — unless the team isn’t getting back on defense, that is. Still, even if basketball is always on his mind, there’s a difference between coaching mode and granddad mode.

“It definitely brings out two sides of me,” Hartwell said. “There’s grandfather me, which doesn’t exist in the locker room, and then there’s coach me, which is a totally different thing, but I enjoy all of it. … It’s great to be able to share those moments with them, whether it’s in the gym or at home.”

There’s a window for the girls and their Valley teammates to do something special. All three will be back for another year next year, as will other key pieces such as Kirsten Bigelow, Rylee Clark and Breanna Mills. For Hartwell and Delia Hill, who have four years to go, the journey is just beginning.

There’s a determination to make it happen this year, though, for a Valley team that’s been No. 1 entering the Class D South tournament each of the past two years but has failed to win a regional title. The Cavaliers lost to Forest Hills in the 2022 D South semis and Seacoast Christian in last year’s final.

“It’s definitely motivating us right now,” Madeline Hill said of Valley’s back-to-back upset defeats in the tournament. “When you’re No. 1 and lose two years in a row, it doesn’t feel good. We want to get it this year, and we’re working hard for it.”

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