Friday, March 15, 2024

Windham senior Perkins signs to play lacrosse at Coast Guard Academy

By Matt Pascarella

There was a big turnout of support at Windham High School on Tuesday, March 12 for senior Tobias Perkins’ commitment signing to attend the Coast Guard Academy where he will major in business management and leadership and play college lacrosse. Everyone who spoke about Perkins emphasized the fact that he is a leader on and off the field.

Proud parents Matt and Melissa Perkins watch as their son,
Tobias Perkins, signs a commitment letter to attend the
Coast Guard Academy this fall where he will play college
lacrosse and major in business management and leadership.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 
“It means a lot,” said Perkins. “Seeing teachers all the way from Primary School to now and to see how many people have impacted me throughout my life to get to this point is amazing. It shows hard work pays off and definitely shows how important the academic side of things are. When you do well in the classroom it’s another example of what a good outcome can be.”

Perkins loves contact sports and says he began playing lacrosse in the third grade. He wanted to stop playing T-Ball because it wasn’t exciting enough and asked if he could play lacrosse. His father signed him up and Perkins would watch the high school lacrosse players practice and play when he was in the sixth grade. Since then, every spring he’s looked forward to taking the field and the memories he’s made on every single team he’s been a part of have been incredible.

Athletics has taught Perkins a lot of life lessons like hard work, perseverance, humility, how to battle through adversity and how to be a leader. For him, playing three different sports with different skill levels makes you adjust your leadership style.

“It’s Tobias who has spoken for years about what to do and how to do it the right way,” said Windham varsity lacrosse coach Peter Small. “When I think back to Tobias coming up to the lacrosse field as a middle school kid and watching and learning and playing and leaning right into lacrosse, there’s an innate leadership ability within Tobias ... he sees the good, he sees the bad, he analyzes it and says this is how we then carry it forward. Watch what people do when they’re off-ball, or not highlighted, and that’s the true character of Tobias; he’s lifting everybody up around him. It’s a model for what we want of student athletes.”

During past summers Perkins has been playing in a variety of lacrosse showcases and tournaments and has been talking with different coaches. When he was in Pennsylvania, he introduced himself to an individual and they got to talking and Perkins was unaware this was the Coast Guard Academy’s lacrosse coach.

That coach wanted to attend some of Perkins’ games and liked what he saw. He then saw Perkins play in a tournament and invited Perkins to visit the Coast Guard Academy, as serving in the military has been something he’s always wanted to do.

While Perkins is unsure of what he would like to do with a business management and leadership degree after college, he would like to be involved with stopping human and drug trafficking.

His advice to anyone who wants to someday be a part of a college commitment signing is to do the best you can in the classroom, work hard on and off the field and doors will open.

“He’s definitely a leader,” said Windham senior and teammate Finn Smith. “I’ve looked up to him all my sports career; he’s always trying to get the best out of you. I’ve become a better lacrosse player because of him. It’s a privilege to have him as a teammate.”

According to Smith, Perkins will bring skills and goals to the Coast Guard Academy lacrosse team. Perkins will definitely have a leadership role and his teammates will look up to him.

Perkins said he would like to thank his friends, family, teachers, coaches and most importantly his parents. <

Jordan-Small Middle School’s student-staff basketball game a fun tradition

By Matt Pascarella

It’s been a tradition at Jordan-Small Middle School (JSMS) in Raymond since 2003 that before February vacation, the school celebrates the end of the basketball season with a friendly student-staff game. This year on Friday, Feb. 16, JSMS staff members, students and coaches gathered in the gym to keep the tradition alive with coed staff teams playing 20- to 25-minute games against the school’s girls’ basketball team and then the boys’ basketball team.

Eighth grader Brooklyn Roy races to the basket during the
annual student-staff basketball game at Jordan-Small
Middle school in Raymond on Friday, Feb. 16.
PHOTO BY GARY HARRIMAN
“The purpose of the game is to celebrate the end of the season using the staff game as a culminating event,” said John Powers, who helped organize the event as well as teaches sixth and eighth-grade math at JSMS. “The entire school attends and they spend the time cheering on their friends and favorite teachers. We keep score but the game is friendly. It's fairly common for staff or students to give each other high fives when the other team makes a great play. I have personally played in the game every year since 2003 and it's always a ton of fun.”

One of the benefits of the games is the whole school getting to see their athletes in action. As not every student is able to attend games during basketball season, this gives them the opportunity to see the results and all the hard work that the athletes put in.

Powers said the game has that old-school pep rally feel to it. Getting the entire school together for a friendly competition is a great way to spend the final hour before February vacation, he said.

He grew up playing basketball through high school and always enjoyed it. He’s been coaching at JSMS for many years and says while it’s fun for the adults to compete against the students, it’s also fun to be on a team with colleagues doing something they often don’t get to do.

One of the highlights for Powers this year was JSMS eighth grader Sean Lebel, who made a deep three-pointer from just over half court. The crowd went wild and everyone on the court celebrated with high fives.

“As a student-athlete playing in the game, I was just trying to score on the teachers as much as possible,” said JSMS graduate and boys’ basketball coach Andrew Wing. “You really wanted to beat the staff because it has never happened before. As an alum-coach playing in the game, you are simply trying to not get embarrassed by the talented young student athletes and you also don’t want to be the first staff team that loses to the students.”

According to Wing, the game is important not only because it’s a tradition, but it’s fun for the student athletes.

For Wing, playing with the teachers instead of the students was a nice full-circle moment.

The games were also meaningful for the student athletes.

“The thing that I like most about the game is that you are able to play against teachers and staff members that you have formed relationships with over the past few years,” said Sean Lebel. “The student-staff game gives you an opportunity to have fun and bond with the people and players around you. It is a great experience to have the whole school watching you while you play basketball. Everybody in the crowd cheers both teams on and always stays positive even if somebody makes mistakes.” <

Friday, March 8, 2024

Trail Blazers hockey team leaves it all on ice in playoff quarterfinals but falls to Lewiston

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham/Westbrook/Bonny Eagle Trail Blazer hockey team has had an incredible season with 11 wins – the most in Trail Blazer history. Their season came to an end on Friday, March 1 at The Colisee Arena in Lewiston when eighth seeded Trail Blazers played top-seeded Lewiston. The Trail Blazers fought for three periods, but Lewiston won 7-4.

Trail Blazer junior Philip Traina of Windham heads toward the
goal during a quarterfinal playoff hockey game against
Lewiston at The Colisee in Lewiston on March 1.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  
“The mentality going in was [Lewiston] is a fast team, we got to get on them quick,” said Trail Blazers coach Bobby Fothergill. “When we did that and took their time and space away, we had some good opportunities. We tried to match their intensity, match their skating – we did it somewhat, I thought we did it better in the third than any other period. We missed a few responsibilities like third guy high, we were sucked too low, we gave up the middle of the ice, the neural zone ... that’s something we tried to work on. We didn’t execute the full 45 minutes.”

The Trail Blazers took the ice in the first period with hustle. Windham senior goalie Jacob Marston had several great saves. Lewiston scored early. With 5:03 left in the first period, Windham junior Philip Traina scored assisted by Windham junior Shaun Traina and Bonny Eagle senior Aiden Toy.

After one period, Lewiston led 3-1.

“We thought we had the better team,” said Philip Traina. “The scoreboard didn’t show we played a good game, we got some bad bounces. The shots were pretty even, and the [scoreboard] didn’t show how hard we were working out there. It’s their barn ... it’s a tough environment ... I think it was a good start for us, to get some playoff experience, I think we played alright. I think we had good zone time; honestly, we were outplaying them, the bounces just didn’t go our way. We came in this season prepared and we executed – we ran into a good first round opponent, and that’s just how it is sometimes.”

In the second period, Trail Blazers defense remained powerful. Shaun Traina scored while assisted by Philip Traina and Bonny Eagle senior and captain Lucas LaForest. The Trail Blazers had lots of shots on goal, but nothing landed. Defense held Lewiston to two goals. It was 5-2 Lewiston after two periods.

“We knew that Lewiston was a beatable team, but we were just a little jittery coming into it,” said LaForest. “We came into it with energy and just wanted to outwork [Lewiston] in every aspect of the game; we outworked sometimes in the game, but other times we kind of let up – that led to goals [for Lewiston]. We never gave up.”

LaForest attributes the strong season to their coaches and the guys wanting to get better every day, taking practices seriously, giving it their all every time they were on the ice.

“It’s a tough, tough game,” said Windham junior Shaun Traina. “I feel like we gave it our best effort though there were a bunch of critical mistakes that we made. I’m not too mad about the result today, it was a great season for the boys. We had high expectations, but Lewiston is a great team. Our power play went pretty good, we had a good forecheck, a lot of energy, a lot of guys ... really helping today. This year we formed a family ... had a lot more fun.”

There was no giving up at the start of the third period. Shaun Traina scored on a power play assisted by Philip Traina and Bonny Eagle sophomore Mason Caron. Shortly before the end of the game, Toy scored on an assist by Windham senior Tobias Perkins.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this group ... the most wins we ever had in a season before was seven,” said Fothergill. “They went to an 11- [8] record this year, they worked hard, they were in every game. We have 11 juniors coming back next year and we’re going to be right back in the mix again next year. The goal is to build and be better than we were this year.” <

Windham graduate Tara Flanders reaches basketball milestone of 1,000 points in career

By Matt Pascarella

Windham High School 2019 graduate, Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) graduate and current University of Southern Maine (USM) senior Tara Flanders scored her 1,000th point on Feb. 22 in a semifinal game with University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at USM in Gorham and surpassed 700 rebounds.

Windham graduate and USM senior Tara
Flanders competes during a college
basketball game against Plymouth State
at USM in Gorham. Flanders recently
surpassed 1,000 points in her career.
PHOTO BY JAMES LIEBOWITZ
USM ATHETIC PHOTOGRAAPHY  
“Coming to USM I knew that I was only 201 points away from scoring 1,000,” said Flanders. “But I tried not to think about it too much because I never wanted that to be my main focus going into games. The mindset I had was ‘if I get it, I get it, and if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world.’ All I cared about was winning games with my teammates. If I’m being honest, I think surpassing 700 rebounds is just as cool as scoring 1,000 career points. Scoring is harder than rebounding because you can have nights were you’re not hitting your shots but getting rebounds is all effort and grit.”

She became interested in basketball at age 5. Flanders remembers her parents driving her to Windham High School to participate in youth camps with the varsity players. Her parents introduced her to a variety of sports, but she always gravitated toward basketball.

“Playing a collegiate sport at any level has its ups and downs,” said Flanders. “I can confidently say that they were some of the best years of my life. The things I learned from basketball I will be able to use with me for the rest of my life, such as how to deal with conflict, how to communicate with people, and how to work together with a group of people to achieve a common goal.”

While at SMCC she got her degree in liberal studies and business administration. She is working toward completing her degree in Leadership and Organizational Studies at USM. Flanders doesn’t specifically know what she wants to do after college but would like to coach. She will start an internship for a non-profit organization called “Strong Girls United” where she’ll be mentoring and working with young girls.

“Tara is only my second player to reach the milestone,” said SMCC women’s basketball coach Katie Stannard. “Tara never goes less than 110 percent while scoring 1,000 points is the headline accomplishment, having over 700 rebounds standing at 5 feet 7 inches actually fits Tara’s value even more. She is always the hardest worker in the room, and there is never any doubt that she will do whatever it takes to make her team successful.”

While Flanders did spend most of her collegiate career at SMCC, she felt she had gotten too comfortable and wanted to challenge herself. She heard there was going to be a new head women’s basketball coach at USM, so she reached out and expressed her interest in playing.

“Tara was extremely valuable this season,” said USM women’s basketball coach David Chadbourne. “Tara’s greatest strength is her ‘motor.’ She literally never stops and always plays all out. Tara is a wonderful person and teammate. I would have loved to have Tara for all four years, but I am grateful for the one season I had the privilege to coach her.”

She wouldn’t have been able to reach this milestone without the confidence that her SMCC coaches gave her. They saw something in her she didn’t see in herself as a freshman. They motivated and pushed her every practice; she was held to a higher standard than others. Flanders trained and practiced off the court.

“It feels really cool to be able to say I ... hit some of these huge milestones throughout my college career,” said Flanders. “I am even more grateful for the love and support I have had from my teammates, coaches, family and friends along the way.”

Her dad, Mike Flanders, will miss watching his daughter play. It’s been their thing traveling together chasing basketball courts from Windham to as far away as Virginia.

Flanders said that she would like to thank her mom, Kelly, and her dad, who have been her biggest cheerleaders. She said their love and enthusiasm is what has kept her going and she greatly appreciates them. Also, she thanks her SMCC coaches Katie Stannard, Patrick Haviland, Vanese Barns, and Danielle Pinkham, saying they shaped her into the player she is today.

According to Flanders, playing in front of people she loves, like friends and family, makes playing her favorite sport much more enjoyable. <

Friday, March 1, 2024

WHS boys’ basketball wins regional title, plays Saturday for state championship

By Matt Pascarella

Call them the AA North champions and with just one more win this Saturday, the Windham High School boys’ basketball team will earn the 2023-2024 Maine state title.

Windham High players and coaches show off their regional
championship plaque after defeating Portland High. WHS
now advances to the Maine Class AA championship game
this Saturday and will face Gorham for the state title.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA     
WHS beat Lewiston 57-44 in the regional semifinal on Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, and then captured its first AA North regional championship ever by sending Portland packing 43-34 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday, Feb. 24. The last time Windham played in a regional championship game was 2018 and this team has now won 18 games, the most in school history.

Windham (18-2) will face off against the AA South Regional Champions Gorham High School (18-3) at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland with the state championship on the line.

“Our guys stick together no matter what,” said WHS head coach Chad Pulkkinen. “As long as they do that, good things will happen. I’m proud of their fight, they fight every single day. We’ve had guys out of the lineup the last couple weeks and ... guys stepping up on the bench. Our adjustments at halftime, being a little more patient on the offensive end, making sure we’re getting reversals, making sure we’re attacking closeouts. I was proud of the guys for being a little bit more patient and then starting to believe and when you start to believe good things happen. I’m excited to have another week with this special group and that means a lot to me; we’re going to bring all we’ve got to that game.”

According to Pulkkinen, this win in the regional finals was for the school’s alumni. He said he’s proud that his guys were able to get it done and those alumni paved the way for his team to make it to this point. Pulkkinen said he has never seen a team as close this one, and it’s been incredible to be around. They inspire and make him better. He directs the ship, and the team drives.

During the regional semifinals, WHS sophomore Tyrie James had 16 points, senior Blake McPherson had 15 points and junior Creighty Dickson scored 9 points and hauled in 19 rebounds.

“Everyone contributed,” said James after the semifinal. “We didn’t settle for anything, we just kept working and I think that really got us through. “We had an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter and we didn’t just want to settle and stop, we wanted to keep playing our game. We moved the ball well, our defense was good, help side – all around we played a pretty good game.”

The regional final was a low scoring game for both teams and neither team had 10 points after the first quarter. Windham was aggressive and kept it close in the first half, even though shots weren’t falling. Portland had a 20-13 lead at halftime.

Portland continued to build a lead at the start of the second half, but it wouldn’t last. Windham’s defense held the Bulldogs to seven points in the third quarter and like in the regional semifinal, Windham turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter after senior Quinton Lindsay scored and just one point separated the teams.

Windham defense wasn’t backing down and a block and bucket by McPherson kept the game tight as the clock wound down.

“It feels great,” said McPherson who scored 16 points and was awarded Most Valuable Player Award for the regionals. “We worked for this, and it feels amazing to be in this situation. Third quarter Portland came out and hit us good, but we just needed to talk it through and in the fourth quarter we executed, and it turned out in our favor. We had good ball movement, we took decent shots, we had a lot of uncontested open shots.”

With 1:45 left in play, Windham was up by 6 and a block by Dickson ensured that Portland wasn’t going to make up much ground.

With just 11 seconds left, Windham led by 8 and eventually won by 9 points.

“Portland had a big lead on us,” said senior and captain Erik Bowen. “We stayed together through the whole thing, and we just chipped away. We fought one stop at a time, one bucket at a time, came back and won the game. We tried to stay positive and trusted in ourselves and in each other that we were going to come out here, finish the game and win. We played great defense; everybody dug deep, our offense wasn’t going for us in the first half, and we came out in the second half and really executed our offense. We play for each other every single day. It feels nice to bring the first regional final championship back to Windham. We’re going to prepare as hard as we can and bring home that first gold ball.”

During the regular season, James averaged 11.4 points per game, McPherson averaged 10.8, Junior AJ Moody 10.5, and Dickson 10.4 for the Eagles.

Blake McPherson, Creighty Dickson and Tyrie James all were named to the AA North All-Tournament team. Criteria for making AA North All-Tournament team is based upon statistics. McPherson, Dickson and James were the three top scorers for WHS during the season and so far McPherson has scored 32 points in the tournament, and Dickson 17, with huge rebound games including 19 rebounds in the semifinals. James scored 28 points in the semifinal and regional final combined.

“They have been instrumental in our success and have done a great job making great decisions on the floor,” said coach Chad Pulkkinen. “All three possess different skill sets and that was on display at the tournament.”

Also noteworthy are AA North Award winners, voted on by the coaches and those include:

Blake McPherson - AA North First Team

Quinton Lindsay - AA North First Team

Creighty Dickson - AA North Second Team

AJ Moody - AA North Honorable Mention

Tyrie James - AA North All Rookie Team

Erik Bowen - AA North Defensive Player of the Year

Bowen is an All-Academic McDonald’s All Star; one of 12 selected by the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches and McDonald’s All-Star Voting in the entire state. He also received the Gary Randall Award which goes to one player voted on by 17 Southern Maine Activities Association schools. The award is given to the player that possesses the most character and sportsmanship in the league. <

Windham siblings earn triple championship wins during tournaments

By Matt Pascarella

For Windham siblings Creighty, Cooper and Kelenese Dickson, Saturday, Feb 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25 were big days. WHS Junior Creighty Dickson helped his team secure Windham basketball’s first-ever regional title when they beat Portland 43-34 at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday, Feb. 24. Sixth grader Cooper Dickson helped his team beat Falmouth Force 54-52 in the Maine Hoops Town Team Championships at the Augusta Civic Center on Sunday, Feb. 25. Also in that tournament, fifth grader Kelenese Dickson and her team defeated Oxford Hills, 31-28.

(L to R) Windham junior Creighty Dickson, Windham fifth
grader Kelenese Dickson and Windham sixth grader Cooper
Dickson all celebrated championship wins last weekend 
after their teams won titles. Kelenese started playing
basketball after watching her brothers compete for Windham
teams and now has won another championship for her
family. PHOTOS BY MATT PASCARELLA
and KATIE DICKSON   
“It was so exciting to be at the Cross Insurance Arena,” said Creighty Dickson. “I was excited and nervous as it's been a dream of mine. I love my team, it’s my second family.”

Cooper Dickson’s team had never beaten their rival Falmouth and he said going into the game that he really wanted to. He loves playing with his team; they’ve been playing together for many years, and they keep getting better.

“I was really pumped to play Oxford Hills,” said Kelenese Dickson. “We beat them two times this weekend and before this weekend we had never been able to win against them. I had so much fun with my teammates.”

All three of them began playing basketball at a young age. Creighty Dickson began playing at age 5 with youth teams, Cooper Dickson started at age 4 with Windham Youth Basketball and trained with his big brother. Kelenese started at age 6 after she saw her brothers playing and wanted to join them. They all play Amateur Athletic Union as well as travel basketball and spend a lot of time competing.

“It took us not getting in our heads, not giving up and playing our hardest until the end of the game to win,” said Cooper Dickson. “The win felt good because it was the first time beating them. I was really excited; we move onto Rhode Island this month for a regional tournament.”

According to Kelenese Dickson, it took them to push through and work as a team to win the tournament. She said it felt good for her team to be in first place. She also will play in a regional tournament in Rhode Island this month.

Creighty Dickson was injured in the second half of the regional final game but only stayed out momentarily. He wanted to get back on the court and win.

“He’s a tough kid; he’s a true basketball player,” said Windham varsity coach Chad Pulkkinen. “He lives and breathes it; his energy is contagious with our group. He wasn’t going to just step off the floor, if he can still crawl, he’s getting on that court. He’s a great kid who tries his best for his brothers.”

They’ve all stuck with the game because of their love for it. Kelenese Dickson says she loves basketball because it’s full of enjoyment. She likes being aggressive and always wants to be better than her brothers.

“What makes her an exceptional player is her ability to score at will,” said Windham fifth grade girls’ basketball coach Chris Sargent. “She has great defense and understanding of the game and game situations. She has always been the happiest girl on and off the floor. A born leader, great all-around player.”

Creighty Dickson loves the sport and has set goals for himself and wants to accomplish them.

“I love to compete, and I have so much fun,” said Cooper Dickson. “I did drills with my dad and brother and that’s always inspired me.”

According to Windham sixth grade basketball coach Steven DePaolo II, Cooper Dickson is a team asset when he plays team basketball and keeps his head in the game, and everyone plays for each other. It is how the team has been so successful.

“I feel like their time and commitment is paying off as they practice daily and really work hard to be better,” said mom Katie Dickson. “Creighty is consistent, unselfish and good at everything he does ... he paves the way for the rest of them. Cooper is super competitive, and you see that when he is playing. He plays with big emotions and a big heart but really hates losing which makes him determined. Kelenese is so strong and energetic; as the baby of the family, she often can get drowned out in the noise in our home. She has learned to develop a very loud and passionate presence to make sure everyone knows she is with us.”

For dad Craig Dickson, it’s fun to watch them develop and to love the game like he does. It’s great for him to see their extra effort paying off. They play basketball year-round; it’s a daily part of their lives. They are good students. The best part for their father is their hard work on and off the court. <

Friday, February 23, 2024

WHS savors resurgence in varsity basketball this season

By Matt Pascarella

WHS Varsity Boys

Windham High School’s varsity boys’ basketball closed the regular season with a record of 16-2 and are the top-ranked team in AA North. They face off against fourth-ranked Lewiston Thursday, Feb. 22 at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

The WHS boys’ team is coached by Chad Pulkkinen and is assisted by George McCrillis, junior varsity coach Geoff Grigsby and first team coach Noah Estey.

The varsity team includes freshmen Colin Janvrin and Allegra Kawaya; sophomores Adrian “AJ” Moody and Tyrie James; juniors Joseph Blige, Conor Janvrin, Grant Coppi, Braycen Freese and Creighty Dickson and seniors Blake McPherson, Quinton Lindsay, Erik Bowen, Ryan Smyth, Noah Mains, Beni Ninziza, Matthew Searway, and Paolo Ventura.

“We’re feeling amazing,” said Moody. “Our strengths right now are how tight we are, not getting down so much on each other; some things we need to work on are our help side defense and once we figure that out, we’re locking in and fighting for our spot to get our names on that [championship] banner. All of us are so excited.”

Windham is progressing and guys are ready to go. Pulkkinen said he likes that his team was playing its best basketball by the end of the season. He still doesn’t think they’re there, which means there’s still room for growth. The players have done film study and self-reflection as a team on where they can improve. Their goal is always to be better the next day, at the next practice.

Pulkkinen said the team understands the playoffs are not going to be an easy road; it’s win or go home.

WHS strengths are court connection, ability to understand one another, players know what value they bring to their team, effort has always been top notch.

The team’s weaknesses are little defensive things and improving some of those small details, but being healthy allows for improvement.

The bye week as the top playoff seed gave Windham a chance to get healthy and focus on improvement in time for their first semifinal game.

“Feeling good, confident, said Lindsay. “Ball movement, unselfish [are strengths]; some weaknesses defensively help side and talking are the two major things.”

WHS Varsity Girls

The girls were ranked sixth in AA North and finished the year with a record of 7-12. They fell to third-ranked Bangor in the quarterfinals at Bangor High on Friday, Feb. 16, 35-27.

The girls’ team is coached by Brody Artes, JV coach Gretchen Anderson and Gary Fifield.

The WHS girls’ varsity team includes freshmen Denali Momot, Isabella Vassoler, and Mackenzie Delewski; sophomores Neve Ledbetter, Viktoria Richardson, Addison Caiazzo, Kendra Eubanks, Marley Jarvais, Brianna Duarte and Chloe Delewski; junior Stella Jarvais and senior Mallory Muse.

“The Windham girls' basketball team has had a good season considering a number of obstacles that have stood in our way including injuries and sickness at inopportune times,” said Artes. “What stands out regardless of these obstacles is the hard work and character that the girls have brought [to] each game and practice throughout our season. They are a great group of student-athletes both on and off the court and I am proud of the efforts of this very young team during this season.”

Entering the playoffs, Artes said Windham looked to defend at a high level like they had all year, using its athleticism to neutralize teams. They played really good basketball for the last four weeks of the season and their defense was the driving force behind their late-season surge. Offensively, Artes said they needed a few players to step up and contribute and to make shots.

“We came into the game with nothing to lose. We worked our hardest out there,” said Duarte. “We could have [taken] a few more shots, we worked hard on driving to the hoop more than we usually do.”

Muse thought this was the best defensive game all year. Their momentum on defense led to their success on offense. Communication was great and everyone kept composure and Windham stayed with Bangor all game.

“I think we could have been more aggressive, offensively,” said Marley Jarvais. “Bangor is a very good team and has always been a good competitor so either way it would’ve been a good game in the end.”

She said it was the WHS players’ relationships with each other were positive and that in past years it’s been more separated. The coaches made a big difference too. Jarvais said the team may have not had a record they wanted but they gave each other positive encouragement and motivation to go and work the next practice to get better. <