JeanClaude Butera said it hit him last season in the waning minutes of Deering Class AA North semifinal against Oxford Hills, with his team trailing by seven points.

Once the season ended, he realized, he would have to get ready to become the Rams’ starting point guard in 2016-17.

“We were down with about two minutes to play and I just started thinking it was time for me to step up. Right then, mentally, I grabbed the reins,” said Butera, now a senior.

Deering would come back to win that game before losing to Portland in the North final. But Butera’s epiphany was important.

Every year – and on every team – younger players must take on greater responsibilities as seniors move on after graduation. The former JV player moves up to varsity, a reserve becomes a starter, a role player becomes the focal point on offense.

The process doesn’t start with the first day of practice in November. It begins months before, with offseason workouts and play for club teams or in summer leagues.

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“From the first guy to the last guy, we have conversations with our players: ‘This is who I need you to be now, this is a different year,'” said Westbrook Coach Dan LeGage. “In the spring, summer and fall, that’s the transformation that each player needs to try to embrace.

“We look at our roster and talk to players – not to make it unrealistic or overwhelming, but to make it (clear) that each player has an important piece of the pie. Coaches need to define that and then the players need to go to work.”

At Cape Elizabeth, veteran coach Jim Ray knew he was going to need some of his guards to take on bigger roles after the Capers graduated nine seniors.

“Right now, it looks like David Hare, a junior, and Jacob Allen, a senior, are slated to play that role, and it’s going to be new for them,” Ray said. “They knew that’s what we were looking for, and in summer basketball they were thrown in there.”

Ray says in a case like that he emphasizes that a player’s success will be judged on many things besides scoring. Block out, rebound, defend and take care of the basketball – and a player is helping the team.

“The success of our team depends on a lot more than what you’re going to see in the paper the next day,” Ray said.

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Sometimes the adjustment comes after initial success as a scorer.

Windham Coach Chad Pulkkinen said that’s what his junior guard tandem of Nick Curtis at the point and shooter Mike Gilman have been preparing for since their breakout sophomore seasons, when they averaged 16.8 and 18.6 points, respectively, for a 7-11 team that just missed the Class AA North playoffs.

“He’s not a secret anymore,” Pulkkinen said of Curtis. “Now it’s about taking their roles to the next level as leaders of the group. Being sophomores last year, that was a lot to ask. This year, (Curtis) will need to be a little more vocal.

“For Mike, it’s about finding other ways to score,” said Pulkkinen, who played collegiately at St. Joseph’s. “The other teams, they’re going to have different ways to stop you. With both of those players, they’re very competitive and I feel the adjustments will be there.”

Butera and Deering teammate Manny Chikuta, who also knew he was pegged to progress from valuable reserve to starter, hit whatever gym was available to work on their games. They did specific workouts with assistant coach Justin Tripp and committed themselves to improvement.

“You knew what you had to do in the offseason,” said Chikuta, a 6-foot-1 forward. “I knew I had to work on my quickness and my jump shot.”

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“I had to learn as the point guard to work harder and be better for everyone else,” Butera said. “I just have to see things more, see things clearer.”

“Players like Manny and JeanClaude have taken ownership of the program,” said Deering Coach Todd Wing. “In the offseason, they were working constantly and reporting to me. They’ve organized things on their own, and when they’re invested it means something to them. How that equates to wins and losses, we’ll see, but as players and young men, that’s what I’m looking for them to do.”

 

Some players reveal their talents and industry over the summer, whether it be though competition with a club team or a school-based group.

Take the case of Deering’s 6-5 sophomore forward, Ben Onek.

As a freshman, he scored 15 total points in 14 regular-season games. Now, he’s being touted as a potentially great player by his own coach (“He’s ready for a breakout season”) and other coaches, like LeGage (“Ben Onek will be just an absolute monster”) and Pulkkinen (“Onek, he’s probably their best player”).

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Onek, a 14-year-old lefty, did weekly runs on Baxter Boulevard to improve his conditioning and focused his basketball workouts on strengthening his right hand.

“I think I’m ready,” Onek said. “I’m just ready to do anything that’s good for the team.”

Fryeburg Academy Coach Sedge Saunders said, “The most important thing for any of these kids is the willingness to compete. If you compete hard in practice, that’s going to transfer over on game days. Confidence is going to come from competing.”

Butera and Chikuta would agree. They were asked if they were – even for a moment – a little scared about taking on a bigger, more visible role.

Both scoffed at the notion.

“I look at it as, this is my senior year,” Chikuta said. “I have not time to be scared. I have to get it done.”


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