FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — From an enrollment perspective, the Tigers have one of the smallest Class C programs in the state. Yet last year’s team got into the tournament field with a 14-4 regular season record and hopes to make a return trip this season.
Last year, Fort Fairfield finished seventh in the standings and defeated Penquis, 61-57, in the prelim round of the playoffs. The Tigers then fell to Dexter in the quarterfinals by a score of 47-25.
Coach Larry Gardner has taken his team to the postseason in each of his first 21 years at the helm of the girls squad. With many players back, Fort Fairfield is looking to extend that impressive streak.
“We always expect to compete with everyone we play against,” Gardner said. “Our team will work hard and wants to return to Bangor, but will have to learn each other’s strengths and build team chemistry to be able to compete.”
Gardner said early-season workouts have indicated the team appears ready for the rigors of the regular season.
“I like our competitiveness and our chemistry, but we still have a lot of areas to work on and we will continue to try to improve each practice and game,” he said. “I do like our athleticism, attitude and work ethic and we do have some quickness along with players who can shoot the ball. Some who can rebound the ball and some good ball handlers as well.
Three seniors, all of whom saw extensive playing time last year, are back in Riley Clough, Cammi King-DeMerchant and Amber Sherwood.
The junior group consists of Brenna LeVasseur, Kourtney West, Kennedy Bencivenga, Hunter Perkins and Shantelle Smith, while the sophomores are Camrya Ala, Sarah McShea and Eva Callioras.
New to the Tiger roster are freshmen Kassidy Gorneault, Jayde McKenney and Ryan Reischi.
John Ala and Becky West are assistant coaches under Gardner. Ala is a veteran coach in the Tigers’ athletic program, currently leading both the girls soccer and boys baseball teams, while West has prior experience as a varsity coach in Limestone with the LCS/MSSM girls squad.
The Tigers opened the season at home against the Woodland Dragons back on Dec. 7. Woodland is a new opponent on Fort Fairfield’s schedule and is a perennial contender. The teams will meet again on Dec. 27 in the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame Christmas Classic at the site of the North tournament — the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“This is a great opportunity to be able to play at the Cross Center and I know all our players are excited for this opportunity,” Gardner said.
Gardner also expects Central Aroostook, Katahdin, Fort Kent and Hodgdon to be among the stronger teams on this year’s schedule.
“We want to be better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today,” Gardner said. “Our goal is to take one game at a time and compete as hard as we can for that game.
“We will have to have huge contributions from all our players in order to compete in Class C,” he added.
