HODGDON, Maine – After coming close to achieving its goal of playing a tournament game in Bangor a season ago, the Hodgdon varsity boys basketball team remains focused on accomplishing that task this year.
A year ago, the Hawks finished 12-6 in the regular season, earning the team the No. 9 seed in Class C North. Hodgdon traveled to No. 8 Calais for a preliminary round contest, falling 67-56.
But with a number of talented returning players to the fold, it is easy to see why fourth-year coach Matt Oliver is optimistic about the new season.
”We’ll be able to compete for a win with every team we play,” Oliver said. “We are a senior and junior-laden roster with a lot of experience.”
Members of the 2022-23 roster are seniors Walker Oliver (6-foot, 2-inch guard), Drew Duttweiler (6-3 forward), Caleb Tuttle (6-2, forward) and Cordel Smith (5-10 forward); juniors Oisin Gardiner (5-9) and Reiley Wright (6-0 forward); sophomores David Tuttle (5-7 guard), and Brody Little (6-3 forward); and freshmen Daniel Clark (5-11 forward) and Wyatt Sanford (5-9 forward).
Oliver, Duttweiller, Gardiner and the Tuttle brothers will likely begin the season as the team’s starting five, the coach said.
Walker Oliver, the coach’s son, had a sensational all-around campaign last year, averaging 26 points per game. The senior athlete has an excellent outside shot, but is equally comfortable slicing to the basket.
Duttweiller averaged 12 points per game last season and is one of the team’s best rebounders, while Gardiner averaged seven points per game and was a tenacious defender for the Hawks.
Hodgdon lost two starters – Troy Hipsley and Caleb Nash – to graduation last season. Caleb and David Tuttle are two athletic siblings who will see a much bigger role for the Hawks this year filling the spots of the two players lost to graduation.
Coach Oliver said ideally he would like to see his squad make strides in its defense capabilities, in order to slow down some of the more potent offenses the Hawks will face this year.
“We need to get better defensively and limit shot attempts,” the coach said.
Fort Kent, a Class C rival, and Southern Aroostook, the defending Class D state champs, are two of the toughest foes Hodgdon will face during the season, according to Oliver.
