WINTHROP — Monmouth Academy boys’ basketball coach Wade Morrill said that for the Mustangs to have success in the 2024-25 season, they can’t rely on one player to carry the team.

Monday night’s game against Winthrop was a good sign. Multiple players got involved for the Mustangs in a 60-43 victory.

“We’ve just got to stay consistent, stay connected, keep working hard together as a family,” Morrill said. “If every guy lifts a little, so nobody has to do a lot – and that’s kind of the secret to our success this year, I think if every guy can just do a little bit more each game to help our team be successful, I think we’ll be OK.”

Levi Laverdiere paced the Mustangs (1-1) with 25 points. Aiden Oliveira and Bingham Abbott each scored 10 points.

“Staying together as a team, working together, keeping each other’s heads up when they went on runs here and there, but we just had to play our offense, play our game, and it worked out,” Abbott said.

Laverdiere, a sophomore, was the second-leading scorer on the team last season when the Mustangs won the Class C state championship. Abbott said Laverdiere showed “great composure” by bouncing back after struggling in the season-opening loss to Maranacook.

“Our game Friday, he had a rough one,” Abbott said, “but tonight he came back and had a great game and just kept his head up, kept the fouls to a minimum and hit his shots.”

Twenty-one of Laverdiere’s points came from seven 3-pointers.

“Yeah, I mean, he can be a game-breaker, you know?” Morrill said. “Three-point lines change basketball.”

“First 3 always gets me going,” Laverdiere said. “I think the first 3, I can tell, I can feel it. So I just keep on going.”

Laverdiere’s scoring will, obviously, be important to the Mustangs. But, as Morrill said, the key is for every player “to lift a little.” Part of the teamwork that makes the offense work is movement.

“I think moving around off the ball is the biggest part of it,” said Oliveira, a junior. “We really work on setting screens away and working on moving without the ball. That’s the biggest part, I think.”

Morrill said Oliveira, the Mustangs’ point guard, helped get the offense going against Winthrop.

“He’s just a really savvy ball handler,” Morrill said. “I mean, the kid puts in a lot of time. He’s … dedicated all fall and spring to playing, and all summer.”

While Laverdiere and Oliveira were starters last year, Abbott was one of the first front-court players off the bench. His defensive presence and, as one of only two seniors on the team, his veteran presence will be important this season.

“As a senior, you know, being a four-year varsity player, we expect Bing to be a leader for us with his attitude and his play, you know, really help us keep the lane shut down,” Morrill said.

The Mustangs also received contributions from a few role players Monday, including Tyler Johnson and Noah Brown (six points).

“Tyler Johnson, off our bench, really just played solid and under control in a really intense atmosphere early on,” Morrill said. “Neither one of those guys is very heavy with varsity experience, so to see them step up, and especially here in this gym against a well-coached, tough team like Winthrop, you know, it was very nice to see as a head coach.”

Winthrop (1-1) has a lot of experience, but against Monmouth was led by freshman Graham Huri’s 11 points, while junior Chan Ring and senior Braden Branagan each scored seven.

Nathan Fournier — 207-689-2884

nfournier@sunjournal.com