WASHBURN, Maine — With a young team and lots of potential, the Washburn girls basketball team is focused on building good practice routines and strong game plans for the upcoming season.
Last year, Washburn finished with a record of 5-4 in the COVID-19 shortened season. The Beavers suffered a loss to Wisdom in the Aroostook County Small School Division semifinals. Washburn played against Wisdom three times over the course of the season and playoffs. While they didn’t secure a win against them, they began to close the gap in scores with each game. The first was a gap of 20 points, then 10, and then five in the playoffs.
The Beavers are led by Coach Ron Ericson, a veteran basketball coach who has been coaching for 21 years. He has led the Beavers to Class C championships in 1985, and Class D championships in 1986, 1988 and 1989.
Members of the 2021-2022 Washburn Beavers include junior Garbrielle Anderson; sophomore Chelsea Hobbs; freshmen Logan Curtis, Cheyanne Farley, Isabelle Allen, Hannah Scott and Madelyn Johnson; 8th graders Jaici-Roci Carney, Haily Cote and Sahara Lary.
“Our players this year are young and fun to coach,” Ericson said. “They learn something new with each practice. We need to become more aggressive, but we lack confidence.”
Potential starters include guards Anderson and Hobbs, who both return from last season. Forwards Allen and Scott are also starting potential, and are promising on the court. Johnston rounds out the potential starters. Curtis will also be playing as much as the starters.
Emma Johnston, Kyli Farley, Raegyn Chavez, Trinity Saucier-Pellicer and Emerson Turner, were last season’s starting lineup, but were lost to graduation. All five of those players were five-year varsity players starting as eighth-graders. That group brought strong leadership and solid play to the Beavers.
This season’s team will have some ground to cover to get back up to full strength.
When looking at tough opponents in the Class D North region, Ericson cites Southern Aroostook, Wisdom, and Katahdin as strong teams in Class D, and Fort Fairfield and Central Aroostook in Class C.
COVID has been a continuous problem in Aroostook County sports, with schools adapting to its challenges as best as they can. While acknowledging the negatives of the situation, Washburn is hopeful to have a positive season.
“Practices have been impacted, individual players have been out here and there and continuity has been difficult,” Ericson said. “Playing sports means a lot. Kids want to have the high school experience that they always had hoped for. There is fear that covid has will rob them of some of those experiences. We are trying very hard to make their experience the best possible.”
This story has been updated
