AUBURN

He opens his Wednesday morning eyes around six, but really he’s been awake for hours, rolling the game of basketball around in his head.

Is there anything I’ve missed? What can I do better? What can we do better?

That night his St. Dominic’s boys team is headed to meet Mountain Valley Conference foe Wiscasset for a Western Maine Class C prelim.

He had tasted the postseason twice before while at the helm of the Morse program for five winter campaigns.

He opted out of the Shipbuilder gig last year and wound up at this Diocesan Catholic school whose motto is “Where Integrity, Community and Excellence Thrive.”

And, this is game-day, all-day.

Surely, everyone knows about March Madness in the collegiate ranks, but in Maine, and around the country, high school basketball takes center stage in Frenzied February.

Todd Flaherty’s Saints are in the postseason and this will be a long and interesting day.

He wakes up that morning with the New Meadows River lapping his Phippsburg home. But, his mind isn’t on the view, but rather the Wolverines.

“I was just thinking about basketball and all of the things we probably should’ve done over the last couple of days.”

He frets because, like every other program, the weekend snow brought a halt to planned practices and gettogethers. His players went three straight days without any coaching, so Monday and Tuesday were crucial, pivotal, to postseason success.

The teams had met earlier in the season with visiting Wiscasset prevailing 43-42 in a down-to-the-wire nail-biter.

“All day, it’s basketball. Work took a backseat today. I watched our game against Wiscasset probably three times, so I was thinking about adjustments I could’ve made to help us. And, just thinking through how tonight’s game might play out. Some things that we might change if they do the things they like to do.”

It’s all on his shoulders, and he and assistant Jacob Webb have formulated a game plan.

His players depend on them, parents depend on them, the school depends on them, simply doing their job.

All hand’s on deck

Coaching basketball is not a 9-to-5 job these days and on game-day it’s all hand’s on deck.

“We’ve got a couple of different options and if that doesn’t go well we’ll get away from it and probably come back to it later if we can.”

There’s always the normal jitters and apprehension, but tourney time just raises emotions and excitement to a higher level.

Looking at the personable coach, a tried-and-true Morse graduate, you can see he wants to be the calm around the storm.

“We’re trying to keep it as normal as possible around here.”

His players begin filing into the locker room some three hours before tip-off. There is much to discuss.

“This is something we do normally for away trips … meet and go over some things on the white board. This will probably be a little longer than normal. This is why we played all year long … for this one game.”

His team went 7-11 in the regular season to garner the ninth seed. The Saints last competed six days before the prelim contest and didn’t play particularly well in a 53-37 loss to Lisbon. Those three days of nonaction followed.

“Monday was a get-back-into-theswing of-things kind of day for us. Tuesday was the only day that we did any game-specific practice. And, to be honest, we’re also nursing ourselves back to health. We’ve been ill. We didn’t have a point guard on Thursday. That’s not to make any excuses because everybody’s got it. I think we’re in pretty good shape tonight.”

The staff ’s always reminding the kids to eat healthy, stay hydrated, especially on game day.

And the coach? Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in the morning and a tuna sandwich for lunch and that’s about it.

“I don’t eat much on game day for some reason. It doesn’t sit very well.”

Todd gathers the kids in the locker room, everyone facing a 10-foot white board where mock courts have been drawn.

There are offensive and defensive set-ups to discuss. Half-court traps, fullcourt presses, defenses after a made foul shot.

Most players know where they are supposed to be on any given play, but Todd expects his kids to understand where everyone should be relative to endline, foul line, division line. Know your roles!

The kids are upbeat, nervous, chatty. Some take great pride in answering his questions. They wore ties, looked proper, for today is game day, tournament time.

Twenty minutes go by as Todd runs down a long list of scenarios his Saints might face against the Wolverines.

“Make sure we value the possession of the basketball! If we get more shots than them we’ll win. Attack the basket. Our winning formula is to make more fouls shots than they shoot. If we get away from that we lose … we’ve got to go to the foul line.”

One player asks about the referees and Todd dismisses the question. His players have to play their game and not worry about who’s calling what or why.

There are more diagrams, followed by his “thought of the day.”

He talks about “the best basketball coach in Maine,” i.e., his mentor, Tommy Maines, of course.

He said the coach had called to wish the team well and asked Todd what he was going to talk about with his players. Todd wasn’t sure. The players moan because they think he is coming up with yet another anecdotal tale.

He slowly gathers his thoughts.

“Coach said to talk to you about ‘32.’ His perception of playoff basketball is that you work your butt off all year long. Practices, games, to get into position to play 32 minutes. You’ve earned the right to play 32 minutes. To play well to earn the right to play 32 more. And, that’s all it is … to play 32 minutes over and over again until you’re either stopped or you’re not.

“And, if you think about 32 minutes, that’s a ridiculous amount of time. Literally a half of an hour. So, there’s got to be something more to this than just 32 minutes. He (Maines) is big on memories … you will remember the high school years your whole life. Ask the old guys here (pausing for a darting look at the reporter nearby). The best time of your life is right now. Just don’t leave anything on the floor. No regrets. Play hard, take it to them.”

There’s some nervous laughter, but most players are looking straight down, hanging on every word. St. Dom’s is not the basketball Mecca for sure, but this is the postseason.

The postseason!

“If they get up on us early, fight back … these guys can not take us out of the game if we don’t allow it. They’re going to have spurts, they’re streaky. Just bear down and get a stop the next time. Get to the foul line, stop the bleeding. Just hang around and we’ll get our opportunities. Be resilient tonight. Go play 32 tonight so that we can play 32 more.”

One final talk

Twenty-five minutes before tip-off he pulls his players together for one final get-together. Todd reminds his players how important warm-ups are and that they need to focus right from the get-go.

“Go to the basket, draw some fouls! Defensively, we better be ready to go, if we’re flat-footed we’re going to pay. We got to get into our rotations, get into our traps quickly.”

After a team prayer, players race out to a pretty packed gym.

Game-on.

The Saints get off to a clean start and a 3-pointer by Zak Johnson gives the visitors an early 5-0 lead.

But, alas, the Wolverines pull out an aggressive man-to-man defense whereas in the first matchup, zone defenses dominated. Todd had gameplanned for zone.

Wiscasset gives the Saints fits, Todd’s charges unable to find their rhythm.

Burly John Rines of Wiscasset was on fire from outside the arc and a 16-10 first-quarter deficit turns into a 44-29 halftime hole.

Now, it’s the coach’s turn to make sure his players understand that a 15-point deficit is not insurmountable. There’s still plenty of time he assures the shell-shocked Saints.

“There’s a lot of time … they shot the ball very well. They’re not going to keep doing that. We also had 15 turnovers. We can’t win doing that. Our offense is fine, but we’re also giving up too many offensive rebounds. We have to be much more physical off the glass.

“It’s all about winning these next four minutes, it really is. I’ve said it before. We climb back in, get it to within 10. We stopped the bleeding for a while, but now we’ve got to get back at it one possession at a time, that’s all it is.”

What follows are two turnovers in the first 39 seconds and a St. Dom’s timeout. His emotions rise to the top. He barks “play with passion!” as his players hang their heads.

“I was trying to wake the team up, get them to be more alert and assertive. I told them to clear their minds and play with more passion. It looked to me like the kids responded, but we did not capitalize on our chances to get the lead under 10 points, which could have been interesting.”

This is not going to be as easy as X’s and O’s. Wiscasset can feel it and standout Travis Padilla is well on his way to a 34-point performance, including 19-of-20 from the foul line.

St. Dom’s is only outscored 13-10 in the third period, but now Wiscasset’s lead balloons to 57-39 and eight minutes are nowhere near enough … the Saints’ season virtually done.

It’s a long walk from the bench to the locker room after a loss.

Webb does his counting and declares “34 turnovers.” It isn’t the most dramatic stat, or cause, but just another nail in the coffin.

The locker room mood is somber, tears are flowing. Todd chooses his words carefully.

Todd’s voice is barely audible, and he will not cast blame. They play as team, work as a team, win and lose as a team. He feels for the seniors, takes an opportunity to console them, but takes a moment to remind the underclassmen of just how much work has to be done.

He talks in halting sentences.

“We turned the ball over 34 times and you can’t win like that, nobody can. That’s the bottom line. We had a great effort from all of you. Our focus this summer for those of you coming back is fundamentals. Not traveling (numerous in this contest), not throwing the ball away, that’s got to be our focus. You’ve got talent, you’ve got athleticism. We’ve got a lot of work ahead.”

The gym empties and wife Kate strolls over for a chat.

After the game he meets up with a few friends, supporters and fans in Bath to wind down while watching the end of the Celtics game.

Once home, Todd checks other scores and emailed congratulations, condolences.

“Watched some mindless TV and fall asleep sometime after midnight.”

Thursday morning comes and the 49-year-old ponders the game over and over and over again.

“I am thinking that Wiscasset’s superior shooting exposed the fact that we were often weak in our efforts to close out on shooters. Looking back through our 35 practice plans, I see an early emphasis on closing out and then nothing for days, weeks. Obviously something we can and will improve on next season.”

Game-day has come and gone, the season done, but coach Todd Flaherty is content with the situation he has put himself in.

“I can’t say enough about they way the administration has supported me and the kids. I’ve gotten great feedback from the parents who appreciate what we’re trying to do. It’s a new system for the kids and a different way to play. We’ve had some growing pains, but we’ve definitely seen progress. That’s been rewarding.”

GEORGE ALMASI is the Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at galmasi@timesrecord.com