The Southern Aroostook High School girls basketball team from Dyer Brook doesn’t have a senior on the roster. Or a junior, or a sophomore.
But the Warriors, with four freshmen and four eighth-graders, are 5-1 and are sitting atop the Class D North Heal Points standings.
Coach Cliff Urquhart’s 2014-15 team went 3-15, and none of the seven players returned. Four graduated, one transferred and two opted not to play after beginning the season with the team.
“It has been a blast,” said the fifth-year coach. “The good thing about it is there are no expectations. It’s always a lot more fun to win when there aren’t expectations.”
Urquhart feels fortunate that he even has a team.
If the Maine Principals’ Association hadn’t relaxed the rules regarding the use of eighth-graders, Urquhart said that “we might not have a team.”
Under the old rule, high schools could use eighth-graders on their teams only if the school had 40 or fewer students in one gender.
But the Maine Principals’ Association upped it to 60 beginning this season.
“I think we have 45 to 50 girls in the school,” Urquhart said.
“It has been a great change, not only for basketball but for all the sports,” he said of the rule modification.
Urquhart said the strength of his team is its “chemistry,” and it also possesses good balance, versatility and defensive awareness.
“We have five or six girls who can put the ball in the basket,” said Urquhart. “We like to run, we like to get up and down the floor, and our players see the floor well and find the open person.”
Southern Aroostook is averaging 58.3 points per game while limiting opponents to 42.7 per game.
“We’re also versatile in that three or four girls can play multiple positions,” added Urquhart. “That especially helps us on the defensive end. We can switch off on every screen and not get hurt, matchup-wise. We could have our point guard [5-foot-8 freshman Kassidy Mathers] switch out on a center.”
Mathers leads the team in assists with six or seven per game, averages 12-14 points and is the team’s “best on-ball defender.
“She covers the other team’s best player every night,” said Urquhart. “She also runs the break well.”
Eighth-grader Sydney Brewer is a 5-9 power forward who is the team’s top rebounder, averaging 9-10 per game while also contributing 13-14 points.
Freshman forward Kylie Vining averages 11-12 points per game and is considered by Urquhart the team’s best athlete.
“Kylie is 5-foot-6, but she plays like she’s 6 feet tall,” said Urquhart, who considers her a fierce competitor.
Eighth-grader Makaelyn Porter is one of the team’s best passers and is a tireless hustler. She averages five to six points per game.
Freshman Katelyn Slauenwhite is a 5-7 forward who is a good outside shooter averaging six or seven points per game. Freshman Maddie Cummings is the team’s sixth man and uses her 5-9 frame to supply the Warriors with rebounding help.
Eighth-graders Hannah Landry and Aliyah Morales recently joined the team after the conclusion of their middle school season.
Landry is a smart player, and the energetic Morales is the fastest player on the team, said Urquhart.
Since he didn’t have any eighth-graders last year, Urquhart is coaching a team of players who are all playing their first varsity seasons.
“It has been fun. Every day is a teachable moment,” said Urquhart, whose goal is to play in the Class D North tournament at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“We just want to get to Bangor. Then we’ll let the chips fall where they may,” he said.