WASHBURN, Maine — A winless season was difficult to swallow for players and the coaching staff for the Washburn Beavers.
The Beavers lost all 18 of their games, and all were by significant margins. Coach Mike Hartford admitted it was tough to endure.
“Going 0-18 was tough on all of us,” said the third-year coach. “Losing and not even being competitive in all of those losses is very demoralizing. There was an emotional strain on many players as the season came to an end, but I asked them not to let 0-18 define them as players.”
Hartford said he feels the season was a wake-up call for the players in that they needed to put some extra work into their individual games over the off-season.
“Enduring a season like that will either break a group or it will create a bond and a desire for something better,” Hartford said. “It seems that most of this group has allowed a stronger bond to take hold. They spent a lot of time in the spring getting together and playing in the recreation department men’s basketball program, and they committed to summer basketball. They showed some significant progress and hopefully this will bode well for us this season.”
Seven seniors are part of this year’s roster, and 10 of 15 of the players are returning from last season.
Noah White is a third-year varsity player who is back as a starting forward. He is a perimeter shooting threat and has worked on playing stronger at the basket and is being counted on to be an improved rebounder and defender.
Patrick Saucier, in his second season, has added offense to his repertoire after specializing on defense a year ago. He is a likely starter in the frontcourt.
Junior Colby Hewitt and sophomore Aidan Churchill will make up the Beavers’ starting backcourt.
Hewitt is a three-year varsity player who has improved his ball handling and offensive aggressiveness during the off-season. Hartford said he will be a solid secondary ball handler and predicted he could have a breakout year as a scorer.
Churchill is another third-year player, who made the roster as an eighth-grader and emerged as the starting point guard last season. He averaged 8 points per game, second on the team. Churchill can score from inside in traffic and is a good outside shooter.
Several players are competing for the fifth and final starting position, which Hartford said wouldn’t be decided until the preseason was complete.
The remainder of the roster includes seniors Zakk Tracy, Steven Nader, Carvor Pendexter, Jovanni Taveras and Jaeden Alvira; sophomores Damien Douglass, Josh Jackson and Shayne Scott; and freshmen Beckam Vaughn, Adam Boot and Angel Taveras.
Kyle Cunningham and Shawn Helton are the managers and Andrew Churchill is back as Hartford’s assistant coach.
Despite last year’s tough season, Hartford still believes his team can get into the playoffs, which is the Beavers’ goal.
“We have a senior-heavy roster and there is no time but now with this group of players,” Hartford said. “These guys are not shying away from putting pressure on themselves to turn last season around.
“I want to see our guys compete above everything,” he added. “We were not a challenge for anyone last year and it would be a big step to be competitive, even in losses. An early win and some competitive games early in the season would really help build some confidence that started this summer.”
