Belfast Area High School is looking for a new boys basketball coach after C.D. Harris resigned from the post for health reasons.
Harris, a veteran coach at the high school and collegiate levels, was hired last June. While the Lions went just 3-15 last winter before losing to Orono in the Class B North Round of 16, Belfast athletic administrator Matt Battani said the program made considerable progress.
“I believe we had 30 boys in the program last season, which is the most we’ve had for seven or eight years. We opened a full freshman team, and we hadn’t had a separate freshman team with a separate schedule from the JVs in seven or eight years,” Battani said.
“Under C.D and his assistants, Michael Savage and Collin Goodwin, we saw an uptick of interest. The varsity had a tough year, but the JVs and the freshmen teams had some good wins and they were exciting and exciting to watch. We were really happy with the way the program was going last year with the numbers and the whole package.”
Battani said he hopes to hire Harris’ replacement as soon as possible.
“I would hire a varsity coach immediately if I could because I would want them to be involved with summer ball as much as they can be,” he said.
Harris, 66, was hired to replace Marty Messer, who had guided the Lions to four regional postseason appearances during his seven seasons with the team.
Messer took a Belfast varsity squad that had not qualified for postseason play since 2008 and led it to a Class B preliminary-round playoff berth in 2015 and tournament quarterfinal appearances in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The Lions finished 10-8 and narrowly missed a postseason berth in 2020, Messer’s final season.