The Hermon High School girls basketball team won eight Class B North tournament games in the previous five seasons.
But the program has not won a regional championship since 1994.
The Hawks, who are off to a 4-0 start, hope to put an end to that drought this season.
Eight players know what it feels like to win a championship as members of the Hawks’ Class B North champion soccer team. They believe that is momentum they can build on this winter.
“Going that far in soccer is definitely a confidence-booster, and we’re bringing that onto the basketball court. We really want it,” said forward Grace Page, one of just two seniors on the Hermon roster.
The other 10 players are either sophomores (7) or freshmen (3).
“We have a good, young squad with two veteran leaders [Page and senior guard Paige Plissey],” fifth-year head coach Chris Cameron said. “We’re pretty deep, deeper than we’ve been in the past, which really helps us because we can run different things.”
That includes having more flexibility with defenses and in Hermon’s personnel groupings.
“Our bench is our secret weapon,” Plissey said. “If we get in foul trouble, we have people who can step in and help out.”
Cameron said one of his most influential players is 6-foot sophomore forward Megan Tracy, who was the goalie for the soccer team. She scored a team-high 20 points, including a 12-for-15 showing from the foul line, and grabbed 13 rebounds in Tuesday night’s 62-53 win over Old Town.
“She has had some knee surgeries and missed her eighth-grade year and her freshman season,” Cameron said. “She just finished playing her first four [varsity] games, and she’s averaging 12 points and 12 rebounds per game.”
The Hawks are long and athletic which not only makes them difficult to defend, especially in the paint, but it also makes them a formidable defensive team.
In addition to Tracy, Plissey and sophomore guard Sydney Gallop are both 5-7, Page is 5-9 and sophomore Maddie Lebel stands 5-10.
Two of the first people who come off the bench are 5-10 sophomores Elizabeth Wyman and Charlotte Caron. Freshman guard Allie Cameron, Chris’ daughter, has also supplied productive minutes off the bench.
The Hawks have held opponents to 38 points per game while averaging 61 themselves.
Cameron and the players said the addition to the staff of former Orono High School boys basketball head coach Jason Coleman has been an important development.
Coleman served one year as the director of basketball operations for the University of Maine men’s basketball team after guiding Orono to three regional championship appearances in his seven seasons.
“With Jason’s knowledge and experience, he helps us with some different things that I haven’t normally done,” Cameron said.
“He brings a new perspective, some new plays,” Page said.
“He and coach Cameron really work hard together along especially with coach [Liz] Muth. They’re all solid,” she added.
Hermon visits Dover-Foxcroft for a 7 p.m. game Thursday against Foxcroft Academy, a team it beat 74-28 on Dec. 6.