Brian Bennett comes from a family of coaches. His father Tom has been coaching wrestling since the 1980’s and his twin brother Mike is co-coaching the Morse wrestling team.

The Bath native and new Morse High School boys varsity basketball coach always knew he wanted to be just that since his playing days, which included captaining the 2000-01 Morse basketball team, running cross country and track, and going on to run cross country at the University of Maine at Farmington.

“The game of basketball is more than just playing, it’s camaraderie,” Bennett said. “You form relationships that you have the rest of your life.”

Bennett is taking over for his stepfather, Sam Hayes, who had been at the helm the past three seasons. Bennett, a fabrication planner at Bath Iron Works, lives with his wife Jamie and six-month old daughter Katelyn Mae.

He has coached every level of basketball except high school. Most recently, he was the Bath Middle School seventh- and eighthgrade coach for the past four years.

“I know all these kids, I’ve seen them grow as basketball players but more importantly individuals, and I think I can really tap into some potential,” Bennett said.

The boys varsity team is coming off an impressive 13-5 season under Hayes, who also coached the team to a 14-4 record in 2013 and a 7-11 mark in 2012 in his three-year stint. When Hayes arrived, the program had been in a funk, with a combined 7-45 record over the previous three seasons.

“My expectations are keep building on what he (Hayes) turned around,” Bennett said. “I’ve had the benefit of watching him ever since I was a little kid.”

The Shipbuilders’ 2014-15 season ended with a tough 53-48 loss to Lincoln Academy in the Class B quarterfinals.

“They’re really hard workers,” Bennett said of his team. “This offseason I’ve seen some kids really get after it and they are really hungry and very disappointed about how last year ended.”

The Shipbuilders are going to have to make up for the loss of Ethan Winglass, their top scorer who averaged over 20 points a game last year.

“That’s a pretty big gap to fill with Winglass headed off to Bates, but we have some young guys ready to get after it,” Bennett said.

He feels as though the home gym at Bath Middle School will be a factor as well, with the Shipbuilders going undefeated at home last season.

“When you win the fans start coming back, when you lose they start to leave,” Bennett said. “This gym is an absolute beast and it gave the kids a lot of good success last year. We hope to build on that.”

The new coach understands the rich tradition at Morse. The Bath High School Alumni Association is one of the oldest in the country and is celebrating its 125th year.

“I take great pride in this school,” said Bennett, who helps out in the community as much as he can, including the Blue and White Golf Classic. “I hope to bring this community great success and bring a lot of pride to this school.”

He knows the change to Class A from Class B won’t be easy, but is up for the difficult task ahead of the Shipbuilders and eager to renew the rivalry with Brunswick on the basketball court.

“Moving up to Class A is going to be a challenge,” said Bennett. “At the end of the day, if I can get the most out of these kids, which I feel I can, we will be very successful this year.”

The coach says to look out for Shipbuilders such as Keegan McDonough, Ayden Brillard, Juwon Moore, Brendan Harper and Dakota Freeman to step it up this season.

“The town just needs to come support this group because this group could really, really surprise some people.”

The high school basketball regular season is scheduled to begin on Dec. 4.