The Heal points earned in wins against the likes of Oak Hill, Lisbon and Boothbay have the Dirigo Cougars solidly in the Class C South playoff hunt despite a 4-11 record.
“I think we’re going to be a tough team if we get in,” Dirigo coach Travis Magnusson said.
Much of the rest of Class C South would agree and probably prefers to avoid the Cougars, even in a rebuilding year. Magnusson, meanwhile, is preaching patience with his young team and measuring the team’s success by how much it improves.
“Our record could be a little bit different, but I love the progress we’ve made,” Magnusson said. “I think a lot of guys are really playing well. We’ve just got to make sure we play a little bit better defensively.”
The Cougars started two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman Friday at Oak Hill. The Raiders won 54-35 to gain revenge for the nine-point loss they suffered in Dixfield in mid-January, but Magnusson is using such setbacks as learning opportunities.
“We’ve been in a lot of games. This is probably the worst we’ve lost all year,” Magnusson said following Friday’s setback against Oak Hill. “We’ve got great kids, no seniors. We’re going to get a lot better. Hopefully, we’ll just keep our heads up. We’ve got a couple of big wins. Hopefully, we’ll get a couple more.”
One more win may be enough to clinch a spot in the tournament. Dirigo’s remaining schedule — home against Boothbay on Tuesday followed by road contests against Madison and Mountain Valley — offers a lot of points. And the Cougars have already beaten the Seahawks and lost to the Bulldogs and Falcons by just six and nine points, respectively, earlier in the season.
Gaining from a loss
A good loss? Mike Andreasen wasn’t going to go that far.
But the Gray-New Gloucester girls’ basketball coach said the 68-55 setback to Greely on Wednesday wasn’t the worst thing in the world for his team.
The game was a showdown between the best team in Class A South, Greely, and the best team in Class B South, Gray-New Gloucester — and, really, two of the best teams in the state.
Both squads are 13-1 and had blown through their schedules prior to Wednesday’s game.
The Patriots were close — they even led at halftime — until the Rangers went on a huge run in the third quarter.
Maybe the loss wasn’t a good thing, but Andreasen said playing a competitive game was.
“Our closest game had been 11 points, and twice I think we’ve had that,” Andreasen said. “Everything else has been bigger, so it was good to have a game where we were battling. And losing, you know, it didn’t hurt us, because in the Heal points, I think it doesn’t really damage us.
“We played the best team I think we’ll see. Plus, the cherry on top is we don’t see them again.”
Big, bad DeWolfe
In the loss to Greely, Gray-New Gloucester was facing one of the top players in the state: sophomore guard Anna DeWolfe, who finished with 23 points.
DeWolfe beat the Patriots by driving through traffic, from beyond the arc, at the free-throw line and with passes to her teammates — including a behind-the-back pass in traffic that set up an and-one by Katie Fitzpatrick.
“Anna’s on a different level. She’s on a different level,” Andreasen said. “And she makes kids around her better. And she’s only a sophomore. I mean, she’s just so well-groomed. And she just, she really does her thing.
“For us, we don’t have that right now. I don’t think anybody has that.”
Day’s treys
Monmouth junior guard Tia Day said that one of the skills she focused on improving coming into the season was driving the lane to either get a layup, draw a foul or set up a teammate.
Attacking the hoop hasn’t affected Day’s 3-point proficiency; she is already close to matching last year’s total of 32 treys made.
It also hasn’t affected her 3-point range, which begins a few feet beyond the arc.
“During the offseason, I was really working on shooting a couple feet back from the 3-point line,” Day said, “because when people do face-guard, they don’t normally face-guard me from that far out, they usually start at the 3-point line, so adding a couple extra feet from the 3 has definitely helped me get more shots.”
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