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AUGUSTA — It’s late morning inside the main gymnasium of Cony High School. On their respective sides of the court, two of Maine’s next generation of girls basketball coaches are leading their teams through a preseason matchup.

Cony’s Alex Bessey and South Portland’s Brianne Maloney are coaching their teams during the 31st Chrissanne Burns Memorial Tournament, a preseason round-robin event. Both represent a growing trend in the state: the rising number of women head coaches for girls basketball programs in Maine. In fact, all four teams involved in Saturday’s tournament — Cony (Bessey), South Portland (Maloney), Biddeford (Jeannine Paradis) and Camden Hills (Samantha Bragg) — are led by women. Last season, 34 of the 95 girls basketball teams who qualified for Maine’s high school tournaments were led by women.

“I think it’s important,” said Maloney, who is also a youth recreation coordinator in South Portland. “In my day-to-day life, I’m involved in rec sports, and it’s an entity in my life to get more female coaches involved in youth sports. A lot of times, it’s moms (coaching). It’s cool to see more females on the sidelines at the varsity level … It’s nice to look around and see these female role models for our kids.”

During the 2019-20 season, 28 women were leading varsity girls basketball programs in Maine. Last year, it was 50. Not only is the number rising, but younger coaches are taking head coaching positions, such as Yarmouth’s Hope Olson, who wrapped up her playing career at Connecticut College after the 2023-24 season.

Maloney and Bessey are not long removed from their playing careers. Maloney, a standout under Mike Giardano and Lynne Hasson at South Portland, played at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish from 2014-18. Bessey, a product of Spruce Mountain High School, scored over 1,000 points between Central Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Farmington from 2018-22.

“All these young girls are able to connect with us a little bit more,” Bessey said. “There’s a little bit more trust with a female lead. I think it has to do a bit with my age, too. I did this not too long ago. They understand. I can say something, and they understand that, ‘Hey, she gets it because she did this 10 years ago.’ They can trust me off the court, and that helps me while they’re on the court as well.”

Their gender and youth are not lost on the players.

“It’s pretty great, just because it shows that it’s not always male dominated,” said South Portland junior guard Stella Henderson. “I think a lot of sports have been male dominated. It’s nice to have powerful women lead and giving us something to work for.

“(Maloney) has been in our position, she knows how girls act to certain types of coaching, what style to work with. It’s helpful. You connect on a different level than you do with a male coach.”

Added Cony sophomore guard Kya Douin: “Women understand girls, and vice versa. Having a male coach sometimes psyches girls out, I feel like. They’re so much tougher and harder. Female coaches are hard, too, but in a different way. (Bessey) knows where we’re coming from. She understands it’s a process.”

Bessey — the head coach at Mt. Blue in Farmington the previous two seasons before accepting the job at Cony — took over for John Dennett, who led the Rams to a Class A North championship in 2024 and a 16-4 record last season. The program is steeped in tradition, winning seven state championships under Paul Vachon from 1985-2008. Cony has produced several standout players and an NCAA Division I head coach, UMaine’s Amy Vachon, who is Paul Vachon’s daughter.

Bessey takes over a team that is talented but young, led by sophomore standouts Douin and Gabby Vachon.

“It’s a roller coaster,” Bessey said. “But way more ups than downs. They’re learning me, I’m learning them. It’s a roller coaster, but we’ll get there. I have one senior, two juniors, and it’s pretty much sophomores from there.”

Paul Vachon was on hand Saturday to give an emotional speech for the tournament’s namesake — a former Cony players who died in an alcohol-related car crash in 1993 — and a motivational speech for the four teams.

Maloney, hired last year, found immediate success at South Portland, leading the Red Riots to their first state title in 39 years with a 54-48 victory over Cheverus in the Class AA championship game in March.

Paradis knows what both Bessey and Maloney are going through as young coaches. There were only 10 girls basketball head coaches in the state when Paradis was hired at Maranacook in Readfield 16 years ago. She had stints at Mt. Blue (2002-09), Maranacook (2010-18) and Morse (2019-21) before she was hired at Biddeford in 2021. Last season, she led her team to the Class B state final, where the Tigers fell to Caribou, 49-48, in an overtime thriller.

Paradis got her introduction to coaching as an assistant to legendary boys’ basketball coach Tom Maines at Madison High.

“That’s intimidating for a 20-year old coming into the ranks, with (the intensity of male coaches),” said Paradis. “It’s good to see that a lot of (new female coaches) are athletes who are giving back.”

Bragg, a 2005 graduate of Camden Hills, took over the Windjammers’ job in 2021 and has turned the team into a contender. Camden Hills beat Class A North favorite Lawrence in the regional semifinals last season.

“It’s really fun to watch and really fun to see development,” Paradis said. “Hopefully, it continues down to our players and they can see that this is something that they can do, too.”