BANGOR, Maine —- The John Bapst High School Crusaders are in the midst of a youth movement.
And it is certainly paying dividends.
The Bangor-based Crusaders went 10-10 last year and are 13-2 this season thanks to the infusion of five freshmen.
Their only two losses were to Eastern Maine Class B champion Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor and 2014 runner-up Presque Isle.
Two of them are starters: Guards Grace Philippon and Crystal Bell.
“Grace and Crystal have started every game and the other three are my first three players off the bench,” said 13th-year head coach Mike Webb, referring to Tia Zephir, Abbey Legasse and Caleigh Lebel.
Zephir and Legasse are guards and Lebel is a guard-forward.
“They are all very athletic. They’re young and still trying to learn the game of basketball. We’re trying to get them to be basketball players, not just kids who play basketball. And they’re getting a little better every game,” said Webb, who noted that he has never had five freshman on a varsity team in his 15 years of coaching.
He also spent two years at Hampden Academy.
“The freshmen are really good,” said senior forward and co-captain Maegan True, who is the team’s only senior.
Philippon is the younger sister of junior guard-forward Hannah Philippon, the other co-captain.
“I like playing with my sister. She’s really good,” said Hannah Philippon.
Webb said his team has received scoring from a lot of different players.
“We get (significant) points out of four, five, six kids a night,” said Webb. “We’re well-balanced.”
In one recent win, the Crusaders received 11 or more points from four different players.
Hannah Philippon and True said the team is much better offensively this season because they have more good shooters after having just two primary scorers a year ago.
John Bapst is averaging 50.5 points per game.
They also said they have better ball-handlers so they can get up the court easier.
“We have point guard by committee,” said Webb. “We’ve really been working on that.”
Bell and True have been the leading scorers and Hannah Philippon has been putting up points lately.
Five-foot-11 sophomore center Madi Higgins supplies them with an inside presence who can score and rebound.
“She’s our go-to big player,” said Webb.
Higgins, the Philippon sisters and True do the majority of the rebounding.
“We’ve got pretty good size,” said Webb.
Hannah Philippon and True said they have been surprised by their success to date.
“I’m surprised because we’re really young,” said True. “But the freshmen work well together and know how to get around people. And we all get along.”
“I knew we were going to be pretty good but 13-2 has kind of surprised me,” said Philippon.
Defensively, Webb said, “we’re mostly man-to-man although we’ll throw a token 2-3 zone here and there. We like to press and we also like to do some half-court stuff.”
John Bapst has limited 11 opponents to 41 points or less and is giving up just 39.1 points per game.
When asked if he has been surprised by his team’s success, he said, “yes and no. I knew the kids could do it if they bought in.
“They’re really young but they’ve worked hard and they’ve come from behind. We’ve been down by 16 and they’ve fought back. They have a lot of heart. They’re great kids who really get along with each other,” said Webb.
John Bapst has three important games remaining on its schedule.
The Crusaders host Presque Isle on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and MDI on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. before visiting Foxcroft Academy a 7 p.m. game on Feb. 4.
With all but one player returning next year, the future is bright for the Crusaders.