Matt Turner played center this year for the undefeated Forest Hills Middle School basketball team.
“I was like the beast,” the 5-foot-10 Turner said.
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Late in the season, Turner was called up to the high school varsity team along with two of his teammates after the Tigers lost some players, and he was no longer “the beast.”
He averaged nearly 10 points a game as the Tigers closed the season at 5-0, but it didn’t prepare him for his first trip to the Augusta Civic Center this week for the Western Maine Class D tournament.
“I was actually kind of scared,” he said.
Turner is one of seven eighth graders on boys and girls teams who reached the West D tournament. With enrollments at some schools as low as 26 students, eighth graders are often a necessity. Others times it’s a choice.
Older fans may recall Raymond Alley, who started for Vinalhaven as an eighth grader in the late 1980s and went on to become the state’s all-time leading boys scorer.
For an eighth grader to qualify for a varsity team a school must have fewer than 40 students in that gender. That’s not a problem at Rangeley where there are 54 total students and 32 girls, although the tournament program lists the enrollment at 79.
“I don’t know where they got that number,” said Rangeley girls coach Heidi Deery, who has two eighth graders on her roster of 11 players.
Deery, now in her 11th season as head coach, said eighth graders on her team have come in spurts.
“For years I didn’t have any,” she said. “Allie Hammond is the first one I had in a long time. She played a lot.”
Hammond is a senior on the team but currently injured. Junior twins Emily and Chantal Carrier both played as eighth graders as did freshman Tori Letarte.
It can be an overwhelming experience for an eighth grader to play varsity ball whether they see a lot of action or not.
“When I was in eighth grade I sat on the bench most of the time,” Forest Hills senior Dylan McNally said. “It was nerve racking even sitting on the bench.”
In addition to Turner, Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero also called up Ryan Petrin and Brandon Ouellette, giving him a total of nine players on the roster.
As well as Turner played down the stretch, he showed some nervousness against the Vinalhaven press in the semifinals.
“He hasn’t seen that kind of speed at any level,” Amero said. “He’s a guard being asked to handle the press in the semifinals at Augusta.”
Deery’s two eighth graders include 5-foot-10 Taylor Esty and 5-8 guard Seve DeRaps, who also happens to be her daughter. The key to a smooth transition to varsity play was having them during the summer.
“They knew what they were getting into,” Deery said. “It was pretty seamless.”
Varsity basketball is serious business at Rangeley as it is at many other schools. The team practices six days a week as well as working outside of practice with a personal trainer. There are also long bus rides with which to contend.
“The travel, at least in Class D, is huge,” said Deery, whose closest opponent is an hour-and-a-half away.
DeRaps has no regrets moving up to the varsity. She and Esty started for an unbeaten middle school team as seventh graders and didn’t think they’d be challenged this year. The team went unbeaten again this year without them.
“Me and Taylor both were just excited for them,” DeRaps said. “We knew it was best for the middle school team to play without us.”
The most important part of a smooth transition for an eighth grader is being accepted by their teammates. That hasn’t been a problem at either Rangeley or Forest Hills.
“Most of them have some connection to the team through relatives,” Amero said. “It’s a family-like atmosphere so it’s kind of like brothers.
“I’m so lucky I’ve had such good kids helping the younger kids that the parents don’t worry about them being around them.”
As Alley did years ago at Vinalhaven, eighth graders can sometimes have an impact of the outcome of a tournament game. Forest Hills sophomore Evan Worster did when he was an eighth grader, scoring 12 points against Vinalhaven to help his team reach the finals.
The Carrier twins played like tournament veterans by the time they were sophomores and why not. They were already in their third year of varsity ball.
“For these kids to have the experience of playing in the tournament is invaluable,” Deery said.
DeRaps admits she gets a little nervous at times but most players do no matter their age.
“It’s a challenge and it’s exciting,” she said. “I’m really happy I get to have my mom as a coach.”
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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