PARIS — Matt Beauchense usually finds a way to stand out on a basketball court, whether it’s his yellow sneakers, his superstition of being the last Oxford Hills player to hit the court or his 5-foot-8 frame on a roster loaded with players at least six inches taller.

Yet when Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference basketball observers suggest the Vikings will be a team to watch this year, the four-year point guard usually gets slighted in favor of versatile and athletic sophomore forward Andrew Fleming and/or senior center Luke Davidson.

Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said that is a mistake.

“Matty is going to be as important as anybody, particularly defensively and in practices, as anyone we have this year,” Graffam said.

Beauchesne isn’t worried about getting lost in among the beanstalks. After years of either losing a prelim or not making the tournament at all, he’s excited about Oxford Hills’ potential this year.

The Vikings will get a good idea where they stack up when they open the season tonight against perennial KVAC power Edward Little Friday night.

“This is as good a group as I’ve ever played with, from the young guys to the older kids who I’ve played with since middle school,” Beauchesne said. “It’s a really, really good group of kids that all like to play together and are really excited for this whole season, however it develops.”

“We’ve got 6-3, 6-4 kids that can play guard. It’s awesome. And the length will help out on defense,” Beauchesne said. “It makes my job real easy. I’m grateful to have this group of guys around me this season because it’s going to be really fun.”

The frenetic style the Vikings play adds to the fun.

“We like to make it a mess. We like to run and get teams out of sorts,” Beauchesne said.

“When we’re pressing, it’s hard to beat,” he added. “We’ve run it forever. The defensive coaching we’ve received has been tremendous. It’s a big priority for us, because we know if we make the game a mess, a lot of times it ends up in our favor.”

Beauchesne’s role is essential in creating the chaos Graffam wants. He is their most disruptive force at the defensive end.

Sometimes that means going head-to-head with the opposing point guard.

“He has to go get their ball-handler. We’re running people at them and he knows how to steer them,” Graffam said.

Other nights, it means taking on some of the top scorers in the state, as he did last year.

“Brunswick had beaten us by 25 points the first time and Blake Gordon had killed us, absolutely killed us (with 24 points),” Graffam said. “So when they came here to play, I told Matt that as soon as we shot the ball, he became a defender, and he ran right to Blake. I’m not going to say that he shut him down, but he certainly controlled him a lot better than we did the first time (with 15 points), and we ended up winning by 20 points.”

The speedy Beauchesne has a way of getting under opponents’ skin, sometimes almost as much literally as figuratively.

An outstanding defensive shortstop for the baseball team, he isn’t afraid to stand his ground, whether he’s got a burly baserunner trying to break up a double play or a 6-foot-5 wingman on the fast break barreling in on him. 

“He takes at least one charge a game. I think last year he probably took 25, of which 15 were called,” Graffam said.

Beauchesne may be trying to create a frenzy whenever he steps on the court, but he’s able to do it while keeping himself under control.

That wasn’t always the case, but having three years of varsity experience already under his belt makes it easier to decipher which moments call for order and which ones call for disorder.

“The learning curve was dramatic as a freshman. Since then, the help that I’ve received from everybody, from coaches to kids that I’ve played with, has been invaluable,” he said.

As a point guard, Beauchesne also had to learn how to balance setting up his teammates and creating his own offense. He’s worked on both his passing and his mid-range game to make the most of all of those opportunities.

“That’s been a part of the learning curve for me, too, because we have such a talented group of guys,” said Beauchesne, who has his sights set on continuing his education and baseball career at a NESCAC school. “You’d think it might be hard to get everybody the right amount of shots and the right shots in the right spots, but having the assets we do makes it easy because a lot of times it just opens up for you. As long as you let the game come and not try to force anything, everyone will get their shots, including myself.”

Graffam admitted Beauchesne, by nature of his position, is under a bit more scrutiny from the coaching staff than the rest of the Vikings. Graffam and long-time assistant coach Doug Craib are both former point guards who set high standards for the position.

“My point guards over my career have taken a lot more crap from me than the other players for the most part because I expect them to run the show,” Graffam said. “In high school basketball, at least in the state of Maine, a good point guard makes a huge difference.”

Beauchesne brushes off the pressure.

“I think it’s an asset having two point guards for coaches,” he said. “I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would. It’s helped me a lot, so I don’t know about pressure. It’s cool because a lot of times we see the game the same way.”

“I talk to him all the time about letting his play make him stand out,” Graffam said. “And he does.”

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