CARIBOU, Maine — Before last season, the Caribou Vikings were coming off four consecutive seasons of at least 12 wins, and had qualified for the postseason the previous 11 years.
That streak was snapped as the Vikings finished the 2016-17 season with a 4-14 record and missed out on the playoffs. Having graduated nobody from last year’s team, Head Coach Chris Casavant, who begins his 17th season on the sidelines for the Vikings, is looking for improvement from his still young team.
Including the returning cast, the Vikings also have had an infusion of players from Limestone Community School, which closed and now sends its students to Caribou High School, and from several other newcomers to the school.
Leading the returning players are starters Austin Findlen, a junior, and sophomores Alex Bouchard and Parker Deprey. Also starting will be Nick Allen, who started for the Vikings in the 2015-16 season but did not play last year. Among the players vying for the fifth starting position are junior Mason Patten, who played at Limestone last year, and sophomore Isaac Marker, who moved to Caribou last summer.
Senior Noah Rosado and sophomore Jacob Paul both had spot starts last year and could also be in the mix as starters this year depending on the matchups. In any case, both will be important players off the bench. Also expected to play important minutes are senior Trevor Hale, and sophomore Jake Berkoski.
Rounding out the roster and competing for minutes will be sophomore Cullin Caverhill, senior Jacob Marker and juniors Matt Martin, Karson Albert and Iffy Sargent.
Returning are Assistant Coach Bill Casavant and JV Coach Shawn Manter. Student managers are Elsie Patton, Dustin Wallace and Emily Adler.
Through the preseason and exhibition games, Chris Casavant said he has been seeing progress.
“With a year of experience, we are already better defensively than we were last year,” he said. “Our new players still need to gain a better understanding of our defensive positioning, but we have good foundation to work with.”
Casavant also expects more offensive flexibility this season, as “we have multiple players who know how to score.”
While continuing to preach patience, Casavant added that “we should have more options for good shots, which will make us tougher to defend. We are also a little quicker and athletic, and we could take advantage of a ‘smart’ up-tempo pace.”
Casavant also noted versatility in his roster.
“We have players that can play and are comfortable at several positions on the court,” he said. “That will help us match up with whatever a team might throw at us, both on the offensive and defensive end of the court.”
While Casavant regards Hermon as an early season favorite in the Big East, there are a number of good teams in the conference.
“You need to be ready to play. Every team comes at you hard, and you can’t take any nights off,” he said.
In their recent preseason tournament, the Vikings faced Brewer, Windham and Mattanawcook, all physical teams that should help the Vikings as they open their season.
Drawing on his 17 years of experience at the helm of the Vikings, Casavant identifies his three keys to a successful season.
“Take good shots, play tough defense, and don’t turn the ball over, and we put ourselves in a position to win,” he said.
