Jason Cassidy grew up surrounded the by trappings of championship basketball in his native Calais.
But when he was named the boys varsity coach at Gardiner Area High School five years ago, he inherited a program with no such history — the Tigers had never so much as appeared in a regional championship game.
Five years later, Cassidy and his team are making their own history after compiling a school single-season record 19 victories, winning the Eastern Maine Class B championship and advancing to Friday night’s state final against Yarmouth at the Bangor Auditorium.
Game time is approximately 8:45 p.m., after the 7 p.m. girls final between Presque Isle and Lake Region of Naples.
“It feels awesome,” Cassidy said after the Tigers defeated Mount Desert Island 70-58 in the Eastern Maine title game. “We’ve worked hard for it. The players have worked hard for it and the coaching staff has worked hard for it, so it’s not by fluke at all. We’ve worked hard to change some principles that were here before us and it’s paid off for us.”
Cassidy played at Calais in the late 1980s and 1990 under coach Arnold Clark, who had considerable success with the Blue Devils and continues as one of the region’s top coaches with the neighboring Woodland High School girls basketball team.
During Cassidy’s senior season, Clark guided Calais to the Eastern Maine championship game before the Blue Devils fell to John Bapst of Bangor, but the principles he learned from that experience remain a core part of his coaching philosophy today.
“It was a big part of my life growing up,” he said. “The guys I played with are my best friends in life. It’s hard to be away from those guys, but being a teacher I can get home during the summer to see them and Arnold’s boys both live in Southern Maine, and with my brother Matt and the other guys on the team we all get together when we can.
“And as far as basketball goes, I’ve studied [current Calais coach] Eddie Leeman, I’ve studied Arnold, and I’ve used those guys as references when I went for jobs.”
Cassidy went on to serve an assistant coach under Mike McGee at Lawrence High School.
But with his wife working in Portland, he opted to move south and took a job in the Gardiner school system, where he served as a middle-school athletic administrator and basketball coach before getting the varsity job before the start of the 2007-08 season — the Tigers’ first in Class B after dropping from Class A by enrollment.
Since then Cassidy has guided Gardiner to four winning seasons and a 60-37 overall record, including a trip to the regional semifinals last winter and now their first EM crown.
“I think it’s his passion that’s the big thing,” said Gardiner senior center Aaron Toman, who has helped this year’s team compile a 19-2 record heading into the state final against 17-4 Yarmouth. “He’s real fiery, he gets us pumped up. He loves the game, he loves us and cares about us. He makes us want to work harder, and he’s a great teacher of the game.”
And all the while Cassidy has remained a student of the game, drawing knowledge from Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference coaching peers such as McGee, Jeff Hart of Camden Hills of Rockport and Nick DePatsy of Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, along with members of his current staff that include longtime former Gardiner head coach Art Warren and former University of Maine standout Sean McNally, a Gardiner alumnus.
And, of course, the Calais connection remains prominent.
“There are a lot of good people in the Calais area and a lot of good people in this [central Maine] area who are willing to mentor young guys,” Cassidy said. “I’ve got some young guys on my bench now so I’ll try to pass that tradition on.”
Friday’s first game will feature a rematch of the 2006 Class B girls final, during which Presque Isle defeated Lake Region 48-36.
Presque Isle (21-0) is back in the state final for the first time since then, after rarely being challenged during the regular season and defeating John Bapst of Bangor, Gardiner and Nokomis all by double digits to win its regional title.
Coach Jeff Hudson’s club features a blend of experience and youth, with veterans such as tournament MVP Chandler Guerrette, Chelsea Nickerson, Kayla Richards and Meredith Stewart teaming with impact freshmen Hannah Graham and Krystal Kingsbury.
The Wildcats will seek to complete the program’s first undefeated season since 1997, when Presque Isle won the second of its two Class A state championships behind the year’s Miss Maine Basketball, Kim Condon.
Lake Region was the No. 1 seed for the Western B tournament and defeated Yarmouth, defending state champion Leavitt of Turner Center and Greely of Cumberland Center to win its first regional crown since 2008, the third of three straight WM crowns for the Lakers.
Coach Paul True’s defensive-minded Lakers (19-2) are led by Western B tournament MVP Sydney Hancock, a junior point guard, and 6-foot sophomore center Tiana-Jo Carter.
Gardiner has had many great coaches over the years. Coaches like John Wolfgram and Rob Munzing in football. Norm Gagne in hockey. Jim Palmer won a state championship in baseball. Now , Coach Cassidy is poised to add his name to this list. Good luck to the Tigers in the State Championship.
The correct spelling of the Calais Boy’s Basketball coach is Eddy Leeman. Thank you.
It is high school basketball not college and in Washington county for that matter as it relates to Calais. How many of the “sports” crew ended up on drugs and ruining the lives of the ones around them. That is the problem in this world….high school is high school but it does not define us…or at least most of us it doesn’t. Most people either go to college or go in the military and from there become productive members of society. I am NOT taking was from this young mans passion and choice of career because it is alot of hard work I am sure, but kinda of a silly article really.
okay let me get this straight, your point is that there are many folks who dwell on high school and do not aspire to become any more once the yearbook closes. yet mr. cassidy seems to have put his high school days behind him and has a profession (teaching) that is meaningful and a way to give back to children, coupled with the fact that he’s also choosen to coach kids in the sport of basketball from the jr. high to high school varsity level, and you think this is a problem how?
this is a sports story about a coach and his team playing in the state class b championship tonight. they always do an article about the eastern team before they play and ernie simply put downeast kid from calais angle in it.
in closing, relax.
Excellent response Ralph! We need more good men like Jason.
Unless I missed something, the article never mentioned if Mr. Cassidy attended college or played basketball after high school. This information would be useful in determining the impact of going from a small high school to a college and trying to continue competing in a sport. The team’s success is probably due in large part from going Class B from Class A. I did not understand the significance of moving from Lawrence to Gardiner because his wife started teaching in Portland. The article does not mention where they live or how a change in schools had an impact on teaching at Gardiner which is relatively close to Lawrence High. The article does not give due credit to the players but does give credit to competing coaches. Mr. Cassidy is a coach but it does not really explain his passion, if any, with basketball. It is nice to hear that a basketball star at a small high school becomes successful as a coach but it should have included an explanation of basketball’s role in college which was missing in the article and should have been a relevant fact in his development. I was disappointed in the story because it was incomplete and focused on one aspect of Gardiner’s success.
WOW, I am guessing from your tone that he didn’t play your kid much at some time or another.
Cut your kid, huh?
Good luck Jason. I really liked the article.