Boys Basketball
John Trull’s boys turned in a remarkable 2018-19. Despite this being Trull’s first season at the helm, and despite being relatively young – just three seniors dotted the Scots’ roster this year – the team powered all the way to the State Final, where they ultimately succumbed to Bangor. Bonny Eagle began their run with a triptych of wins over Westbrook, Massabesic, and Scarborough (that last by the narrowest of margins, 59-58) before dropping their first loss to Cheverus, 61-49. They didn’t lose again for three weeks, when a top-caliber TA outfit got the better of them 70-62; that dispiriting result segued into another, an epic stumble on the road at South Portland, 58-25. From there on out, however, the Scots toppled every challenger they faced, including tough Gorham, Portland, Falmouth and Windham contingents.

BE entered the tourney ranked second in AA South, at 15-3. The team promptly ousted No. 7 Massabesic in the quarters before getting their revenge on South Portland (55-50) in the semis and on TA (48-44) in the Regional Final – a pair of brilliant comeback victories they battled valiantly for and earned every bit of. The latter earned them their shot at Bangor, a more experienced school.

Will Hendrix, Logan Fogg and Jack Bean say goodbye to the Scots after this, their senior year. Standouts Zach Maturo and Jake Humphrey return, however, as do key pieces Cam Gardner and Nate Ferris. With that much talent and dedication at their disposal – not to mention a ravenous, almost rabid energy – fans can expect BE to turn in another impressive run next season.

“I thought overall we had a very good season,” Trull says. “It was awesome to see how the guys got better every week and were able to compete at the highest level for their last game. My favorite thing about this year was the fact that we lost to South Portland and TA in the regular season but beat both of them in the playoffs. Obviously the season didn’t end the way we wanted, but when you sit back and look at the complete body of work, where we came from to where we got to, I would consider it a successful season. I would like to thank Jackson, Will and Logan for their outstanding commitment and leadership to our program. They are a major reason for our success this year.”

Girls Basketball
Scott Regan’s girls logged a strong 2018-19; they couldn’t, however, get beyond top-seeded South Portland when the playoffs rolled around. The team opened their regular schedule with a big, 59-28 loss to the Riots, then went 2-3 through their next five. That’s when they really woke up, going 10-2 across the remainder of their schedule to enter the postseason at 12-6, good enough for the five-seed.

Their quarters bout took them on the road to No. 4 Noble, whom they dispatched with ease, 56-35; the semis, then, is where they ran aground on South Portland, succumbing 58-35.

“Overall, a pretty positive season,” Regan says. “We started off a little slowly, before coming back from Christmas break. Our season really started to pick up steam…with the only two losses being a 68-67 loss at Marshwood and a three-point loss at Gorham. First-round playoff game was a true highlight of our season, with contributions from multiple players in a convincing win at Noble, allowing our seniors to make it to the Cross Insurance Arena three out of their four years.”

The program says goodbye to three seniors: Mackenzie Emery, Taylor Johnson and Sam Averill, all three of whom played key roles in BE’s success this season. Emery is the program’s all-time assists leader, and its No. 6 all-time leading scorer; she’ll be playing at Regis College next year. Averill is the program’s No. 12 all-time leading scorer; she heads to USM this fall, and hopes to walk on to the team there. Johnson, the three-point-shooting record holder, will attend St. Joe’s after graduation.

Six-foot-5 Emily Bartash also contributed in a big way to the team’s season. especially as she developed over the course of the winter. But Bartash is just a sophomore and slated to return for ’19-’20. She’ll will prove a linchpin for the outfit going forward; if BE hopes to maintain the high level of competition they’ve brought to the court in recent years, though, they’ll need new girls to step up into the spots vacated Emery and Averill.

Boys Hockey
Loren Blair’s boys (a co-op with Old Orchard Beach and Massabesic; aka the “MOB”) put together an 11-7 record across the regular season – but in a well-balanced A South, that proved just good enough to sneak into the playoffs ranked seventh. The MOB kicked off their run with a narrow, overtime loss to Brunswick, 2-1; they then picked up a pair of wins, 3-0 over the Ice Cats (Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills) and 4-1 over South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete. They followed up with a 1-0 loss to Gorham, thus beginning the winter at 2-2; after that, they picked up steam, winning the games that looked, on paper, like solidly winnable games for them. The MOB downed the Ice Cats a second time, Kennebunk/Wells, Marshwood/Traip/Sanford/Noble (twice), Lawrence/Skowhegan/MCI (twice), Windham/Westbrook and Cony/Monmouth/Hall-Dale. Worth noting, they also came close against eventual State Runners-Up Biddeford, falling just 1-0.

The team couldn’t, however, improve on their effort vs. the Tigers when the two groups rematched in the first round of the playoffs. Biddeford won that contest 5-2, sending the MOB back to the locker rooms till next winter.

Three Bonny Eagle seniors depart the co-op after this year: Jared Harris, Scott Blanchette and Wyatt Blanchette. Happily, freshman star goalkeeper Gavin Sperlich (an OOBer) should return next winter, giving the squad another respectable shot.

Girls Hockey
Nat Germond’s girls (a co-op with Gorham and Massabesic) took another step forward this year: Though they picked up just three wins (for 3-14-1 overall) and landed outside the playoffs, they nevertheless improved on last year, when the finished 0-18. The team topped Mt. Ararat/Morse 6-4 to open the season; they tied York/Traip/Marshwood two games later, 2-2 in OT. They battered Biddeford/TA/Wells 8-3 after that, and trumped Bunswick 5-4 in OT midway through the season.

Several seniors from the three schools now depart the program: Mackenzie Buteau, Isis Adams, Anna Rathbun, Aleyxa Reekie, CC Cochran and Emma Steinbuchel. Those are tough losses for the lineup to absorb, but with a little luck the team will take yet another step forward next year.

Boys Indoor Track
Mike Burleson’s Boys finished 11th at SMAAs and eighth at States; standout jumper Zack Allocca led the charge, winning the Triple Jump and taking second in the Long Jump at both competitions. Allocca, along with Aiden Willey, Andrew Pendleton, Khyler Hart and Ian Reilly went on to compete at NEs.

Allocca, Hart, Reilly, Pendleton, Hunter Goodale, Gavin MacDonald, Aidan McGlone, Cam Michelson and Matheus Pinotti all graduate this June.

Girls Indoor Track
Khabir Edwards’s girls took fourth at SMAAs and sixth at States; reliable scorers like Ami Beaumier, Amelia Alexander and Kayla Raymond spearheaded those efforts, but they received a great deal of help from up-and-comers Hannah Stevens and Delaney Hesler, two freshman already turning heads in the middle-distance and distance events.

Stevens, Hesler, Alexander, Raymond, Beaumier, Hannah Kaspereen, Zoe Schmaling, Kanani Lopes, Emma Noonan and Gretchen Biegel all made the trek to New Englands for the Scots.

Lopes, Raymond, Alexander, Beaumier, Molly Black, Kasundra Dix, Sarah Dube, Brianna Houser, Abigail Nelson, Sydney Owen, Laruen Simmons, Natalie Suk and Lucy Weyand were this year’s seniors. That’s a big contingent that’ll be hard to replace, and with just three juniors on this year’s roster, BE may spend next year building up some momentum.

Boys Swimming
The Scots were short on boys this year: The roster boasted just two names, Chris Roberts and Gabe Stokes (both sophomores). Presumably, it’s among the program’s goals to grow numbers for next year.

Girls Swimming
Eight girls participated this season, including seniors Cassandra Roy and Christine Toy.

Wrestling
Despite being very young, with one senior and one junior, Josh Lund’s kids plied a trio of talented brothers for a fourth-place team take at Regionals and a seventh-place team take at States. Cam, Caden, and Colby Frost (the first two are twins) all reached the podium at the latter meet, with Colby winning at 120, Caden finishing second at 106 and Cam finishing fourth at 113.

Caden and Colby both advanced to NEs, Colby with a win at the qualifying tournament and Caden with a second-place finish. Jake Harriman (285) finished fourth at the event.

Andrew Thomas (170) graduates in June.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME

Senior Will Hendrix helped propel the Scots all the way to this year’s State Championship.

Senior Sam Averill has played a key role for the Lady Scots, these past few years. The program will sorely miss her.

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