YARMOUTH — When Connor Hasson was hired last spring as Yarmouth High’s new boys basketball coach, he naturally watched as much video as he could of the players in the program.

It didn’t take Hasson long to know there was plenty of returning talent, and he was quick to let the players know it when the four-days-a-week work began in the summer.

“In the summer he came in, he just put belief in our heads that we could be here, and that’s just so key,” said Ian Lawrence, a senior forward.

It also was apparent to Hasson, who had been an assistant at his alma mater South Portland, that certain adjustments would be needed. Players needed to “get out of their comfort zone,” he said, and work on parts of their games where they were less proficient.

Most important was instilling that players needed to give “100% effort 100% of the time,” Hasson said, to have significant team improvement from a 10-9 campaign in 2024-25 that ended with a three-overtime regional quarterfinal loss to Lincoln Academy.

“It was establishing those baseline expectations. Play hard and be good teammates,” Hasson said. “And it wasn’t really hard. It’s a good group of kids.”

The combination of belief, effort and improvement has put Yarmouth back in the Class B championship game for the first time since the 2022 team that featured Pete Psyhogeos and Stevie Walsh beat Ellsworth in overtime.

Yarmouth (17-4) will play North champion Gardiner (18-3) for the Class B state championship at 7:45 p.m. Friday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

After last Friday’s Class A South regional championship win against Medomak Valley, both Lawrence and sophomore forward Adam Maxwell were quick to point out that the team’s improvement — they started 1-2 including a lopsided loss to Medomak Valley in Waldoboro — was born from good practice habits.

“Coach wants intensity every day in practice, and competitiveness,” Maxwell said prior to practice Wednesday. “Trying to go at each other and really work hard.”

Maxwell was a player that Hasson said he specifically has asked to expand his game. An athletic 6-foot-4 forward, Maxwell played as a freshman. When Hasson watched the clips, he saw a young player who was too deferential to his older teammates.

“He just looked to me like a freshman who didn’t want to step on upperclassmen’s shoes,” Hasson said.

Maxwell had to be get ready to be focal point. To take on the responsibility that he was going to get a lot of touches in the low post and be ready to produce.

“I had to learn that a 4-foot hook shot by me was as good as any other shot,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell is now a top scorer, averaging 12.5 points and 7.4 rebounds — second on the team in both categories behind Lawrence (16.1 points, 8.2 rebounds), who is also 6-foot-4. In the playoffs, Maxwell has become an even greater focal point. He scored 25 points when fourth-seeded Yarmouth beat No. 1 York in overtime and shared scoring honors with Lawrence with an 18-point game against Medomak Valley in the regional final.

For Evan Oranellas, a junior guard, the adjustment might have been tougher. As a sophomore, Oranellas led Yarmouth in scoring with 11.5 points a night and was fourth in the Western Maine Conference with 44 3-point baskets. Shooter’s like to shoot. Oranellas averaged 12.4 points during the season but has seen his scoring and shot attempts drop in the playoffs — partly because other teams have tried to take him out of the equation.

“So I’ve been facilitating. Trying to play more, better defense, which is something I’ve been trying to work on this year. Being more all-around,” said Oranellas, whose twin brother Owen is the other starting guard.

Evan Oranellas said when he “saw the scoreboard and us winning games,” he was convinced the plan was working. “I like scoring but, overall, I like winning.”

The Clippers have become a balanced unit. The entire starting unit, rounded out by versatile wing Matthew LeBlanc, averages at least 7.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists. They have become a hard-working, ball-sharing group.

Yarmouth will face a similarly balanced team in Gardiner. The Tigers’ only other state game appearance was a 2012 loss to Yarmouth.

“We have to play hard. Gardiner is known for playing very hard and rebounding well, so we’ve just got to box out and play hard,” Evan Oranellas said.