The Class B state champion Caribou girls basketball team didn’t have to look far for its new head coach.
After serving as a volunteer assistant on the Vikings bench for the past few years, Mackenzie Turner has been named as the new head coach, according to Caribou Athletic Director Evan Graves.
Maine basketball fans — including those following Husson University and Washburn High School — may better remember the new coach as Mackenzie Worcester, the standout guard who won multiple state championships in high school and amassed a long list of accolades in her college career.
“I think I’ve always known that I wanted to be a coach ever since I was really young,” Turner said. “I would say even in high school, I had decided that at some point, it was always something that I wanted to do. And coaches along the way have really fostered it, in the sense that I could always talk to them about strategies and things like that.”
She credited Husson coach Kissy Walker for encouraging that development as both a player and graduate assistant.
“It’s definitely always been a passion of mine, and always been a dream to be a head coach someday,” Turner added.
Turner will replace former head coach Kayla Brown, who stepped down to focus on her young family after leading the Caribou girls team to its first-ever state title this past season.
“It’s certainly sad to see Coach Brown move on, but I’m confident in the program and where we’re headed with the hiring of Mackenzie,” Graves said.
Turner brings both basketball knowledge and poise into the new role, and said she is “soft-spoken but great with the kids,” Graves added.
Brown was similarly confident in Turner’s ability to take the helm for the Vikings next season, saying she is “really happy for her, and the program as well.”
“I think she has earned the opportunity through her dedication, her commitment and her hard work,” Brown added. “And she knows what it takes to be successful.”
Turner comes from a basketball family, Graves pointed out. Her parents Larry and Kim Worcester were both 1,000-point scorers in high school and her brother Mitch also went on to play college basketball.
“She’s got the basketball pedigree in her family, and grew up as a gym rat,” Graves added about the new head coach.
Next season will bring other changes for the Vikings as well. Caribou will move to Class C as part of a statewide reclassification for basketball, and the returning champions will be without some key players from this season, including Miss Maine Basketball winner Madelynn Deprey.
“Obviously it’s a transition year with the loss of some big seniors,” Graves said as Turner takes the reins. “But she knows these kids and is already working on figuring out, ‘OK what is a good offense to run, how do we continue to focus on defense,’ and all those pieces that help bring success.”
Turner said she has always been a fan of high pressure defense and a run-and-gun type of team.
“I think if we are able to create turnovers and steals and get easy buckets off that, that makes our job on both ends a little bit easier,” Turner said.
She highlighted returning players Liv Adams, Quinn Corrigan and Lily Bell and anticipates “a big year for all three of them.”