READFIELD — What you’ve seen from the Mt. Blue boys basketball team early in the 2024-25 season might have raised an eyebrow. For Coach Troy Norton, though, there’s absolutely nothing remotely shocking about it.

Despite losing one of the best players in Maine high school basketball in Evans Sterling from a season ago, Mt. Blue is already piling up some big wins in its early slate. That continued Friday as the Cougars took down Maranacook 61-30 in a battle of early-season unbeatens.

“It hasn’t surprised us,” Norton said of his team’s torrid start. “We have three seniors this year that all played roles last year because we ran everything through Evans, but we knew – and what everyone else knows or might at some point – was that they could contribute a lot more given the opportunity.”

Those seniors led the way in this one with Carter Norton scoring a game-high 18 points, Nolan Leso adding 16 and Tyler Abell pouring in 15 on five 3-pointers. The Cougars also stifled Maranacook defensively, forcing the home team into 22 turnovers en route to the lopsided victory.

It’s hard to overstate just how good Sterling was for Mt. Blue last year. A Mr. Maine Basketball semifinalist, he averaged 25.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to lead the Cougars to a 16-4 finish that marked the team’s winningest season since 2011-12 and its best regular-season mark since 1996-97.

Yet even with that loss, Norton knew what he had in his three returning starters. After a 68-50 win over Lawrence in the season opener, Mt. Blue scored an even more impressive victory in its second contest with an 80-67 win over a Camden Hills team among the Class A North favorites.

Maranacook’s Elijah Freeman shoots while being defended by Mt. Blue’s Oliver Cormier (14), Tucker Fitch (2), Evan Drake (20) and Tyler Abell (3) during a boys basketball game Friday in Readfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“We’re really just playing together; we’re jelling really well together offensively,” Abell said. “Everybody’s contributing. Defense, we’re picking it up a lot, especially in the Camden Hills game – we played a lot better defense (in that game).”

Yes, Mt. Blue (3-0) is taking pride in its defense, and on Friday, that defense forced Maranacook into 22 turnovers, four of which came in the opening minutes as the Black Bears fell into a 7-0 hole. At the other end, the Cougars sank 12 3-pointers in a game that was never close.

Mt. Blue’s offense has a balance to it this year, something that was particularly evident in just how close Norton, Leso and Abell were Friday. It wasn’t just Abell excelling from long range, either, with Norton sinking three 3-pointers and Leso making a pair.

“They run a box on Ty, and then Nolan hits a 3 and Carter hits a 3,” Troy Norton said. “They just feed off each other; they don’t care who scores, and they’re inseparable on and off the court. You combine with that some young players who are eager to get an opportunity, and it’s a good thing.”

Evan Drake, already a starter as a freshman, is one of those players. He had six points and four rebounds Friday after scoring 10 in the win over Camden Hills. Cam Norton has also seen minutes as a freshman, while junior Tucker Fitch has been a consistent contributor early.

The team Mt. Blue beat handily Friday, by the way, is no slouch. Maranacook was also 2-0 entering the game with a win over defending Class C state champion Monmouth Academy under its belt. The Cougars, though, were able to get the Black Bears out of rhythm early, and the home team never seemed to find it.

“They rebounded much better than we did,” said Maranacook Coach Travis Magnusson, whose team was beaten 32-24 on the boards. “When we play those bigger schools, we’ve got to play tougher and have a better mindset. We didn’t have that today, but hats off to them because they’re a good team.”

Jack Fontaine (seven points, six rebounds) and Elijah Freeman (seven points, five rebounds) led Maranacook in scoring. Mitch Maceda added six points and four rebounds.