Maya Koerber-Marx, right, and Evangeline Harvie battle for positioning during a drill in Tuesday night’s practice. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

BRUNSWICK — It’s hard to miss the newest additions to Brunswick High’s trophy case. Towards the center of the eye-level shelf sits the 2023-24 Class A girls’ basketball trophy, shining next to a framed team photo and commemorative basketball signed by the team.

But during practice Tuesday night, Coach Sam Farrell was not concerned with last year’s Gold Ball.

“You can’t think about the end game,” Farrell, entering his 16th season at Brunswick, said. “You want to play like a champion. You want to practice like a champion. You want to hold yourself like a champion, but you can’t worry about March. I mean, we’re hoping to survive November just to get to December.”

The details matter for the Dragons, whether that’s starting a drill over to make sure a long inbound pass has the right combination of zip and arc, or Farrell repeatedly asking for players to yell out incoming screens or skip passes. It’s part of the reason why Brunswick has gone 57-8 over the last three seasons with back-to-back trips to the Class A state final. As the team reloads and prepares to defend the first state title in program history, maintaining perspective will be crucial.

“Maybe there’s some pressure to do really well this year, but we’re taking it as just a regular season,” senior guard Kyra Fortier said. “Doing our best next game, focus on the next game, focus on the next game…”

Kyra Fortier boxes out Jules Morin during a rebounding drill in Tuesday night’s practice. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

“We’re just going day-by-day,” senior guard Evangeline Harvie added. “If we go to states, that would be amazing. But if we don’t, that’s OK. If we all get better as a team, and we all work together, and even if we lose a game, OK. Did we do great in that game and we’re just playing better competition? But did we all do great together? It’s those things. It’s not all about winning and losing.”

Over the next few weeks, Farrell will take a practice-by-practice approach to determine what his team’s strengths are. There are two things he knows already.

Brunswick will be a shorter team after graduating Varsity Maine all-state forward Dakota Shipley and second-team all-KVAC forward Maddy Werner, meaning the offense will have to take more outside shots rather than dropping it off down low. The Dragons will also be less experienced as they return six varsity players and two starters, Harvie and two-time Class A South tournament MVP Lexi Morin, who averaged 10.2 points, six rebounds and five steals per regular season game last year.

“We don’t have height this year, but we have guards and energy, and we realize that’s how we’re gonna win,” Harvie said. “If someone’s negative, that’s gonna affect the whole, entire team. We’re trying to be, all of us, positive.”

As upperclassmen, Harvie (7.0 points per game last season) and Fortier (5.2 ppg) have welcomed the role of mentor, encouraging the younger players through defensive drills or coaching them after a mistake during a set play. Farrell also added two new coaches to his staff, Rian Sachs, a former Brunswick player, and Jon Stovall, a former Cheverus star and a member of the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Brunswick girls basketball team works on a defensive drill during Tuesday night’s practice. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

Harvie and Fortier know the season will be full of ups and downs, but both agree that the team’s bond is what can take the group past any low moments. That starts with meshing and communicating off the court, so that can carry over on the court. Especially on defense.

Defensively, Brunswick is one of the best. Last year during the regular season, the Dragons held opponents to 35.3 points per game, the lowest total in KVAC Class AA/A. During the championship run, no opponent scored more than 30 points.

Harvie describes the zone as if all five players were attached to one another with a rope, bringing the entire defense along with each individual movement. She admits it can be difficult to get the hang of, but it all depends on communication, which is a work in progress during the first week of preseason. Still, Farrell is confident the group will grow into a cohesive unit.

“You don’t have to replace (the graduated senior class),” Farrell said. “We’ve got to find roles for the kids. We have to see how they fit together. You know, it’s not your five best players, it’s the five players who play best together. So it’s my job to figure out how to put these kids in spots they can do well.”