Wiscasset High boys basketball players warm up before their game against Morse on Wednesday. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Before the 2023-24 season began, Wiscasset boys basketball coach Jamey Roy made a bold statement to his team.

“He came in, he’s like, ‘We’re gonna win some games, we’re gonna go to the tournament,'” sophomore guard Landin Shirey recalls. “Of course, we didn’t believe him.”

For years, the only victories the Wiscasset boys basketball team left gyms with were of the moral variety. In the five seasons prior to Roy’s return (he was a coach in the program during the early 2000s and mid 2010s), the Wolverines won just two games and in between them they lost 68 straight. A four-season winning percentage well below the MPA’s 25% threshold meant Wiscasset could choose to move from Class C South to Class D South.

Still, Roy had confidence. He just needed the players to have some, too.

A 58-56 overtime win over Temple in the Augusta Civic Center to start last season did the trick.

“That was kind of the turning point for, I feel like, a lot of our team,” junior guard Spencer Smith-Pinkham said. “We’re like, ‘Wow, we got a shot at this. We could make something out of this team.’ That carried straight to this year, and now we’re looking to get a Gold Ball.”

After winning the opener, Wiscasset won four of its next five games. The Wolverines finished the season 10-10 and reached the D South regional semifinals, earning the program’s first playoff win since 2017.

This year, Wiscasset is 7-3 and currently sits in fifth place in the D South Heal point standings. The final stretch of the season will be tight — eight games in 13 days — but the team feels ready to make another postseason run.

Wiscasset’s Landin Shirley shoots a jump shot during their game at Morse on Wednesday. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

“We spent last year — I coached them like if it was a sixth-and-seventh-grade travel team,” Roy said. “I mean, we worked on basics every night. Ball handling, layups, defensive shell drills, free throws. I mean, just simple, simple basketball stuff. … I was able to have the summer to work with these guys, which I didn’t last year, so, yes, our basketball IQ has come a long way, and we are able to run a lot more complex (sets) than we were a year ago.”

Over the past year-and-a-half, fundamentals have improved and team chemistry has strengthened, allowing Roy’s playbook to expand. Full-court press and half-court traps have started popping up on defense, as effortless passes and constant ball movement occurs on offense.

Compared to Wiscasset’s first season in D South, the Wolverines have increased their scoring output by 18.9 points per game and allowed two fewer points per game from opponents.

Shirey, who missed half of his freshman season with an ankle injury, leads the team with averages of 18 points and seven rebounds per game. He is flanked by Smith-Pinkham, senior Jevar Garricks, senior Alex Richard and sophomore Julien King, who contribute between 7-10 points and 4-6 rebounds each game.

Alongside the Xs and Os, players have noticed a shift in overall attitude.

Wiscasset’s Spencer Smith-Pinkham lays the ball up around Bryce Bustamante of Morse. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

“He got straight to the point the first practice. I mean, put us to work,” Smith-Pinkham said. “I feel like that was something we needed. We kind of had been a program that got used to losing, so we didn’t practice discipline, we didn’t stay focused. And he kind of helped us develop that discipline, that focus.”

As expectations rise higher, consistency and effort have been a guiding path.

“I think they believe now, when they show up and if they do things right, we can compete,” Roy said. “(We’re) not necessarily going to win every game, but they know that if they do, if they play the way they’re capable, we can compete against most teams on our schedule.”

Even during Wednesday’s double-digit loss to Morse, in which Wiscasset held a seven-point third quarter lead over its Class B opponent, the the intensity was evident, but so was the joy.

“When we were losing, we were trying to have fun, because when we went in the game thinking we’re gonna get blown out by 50,” Garricks said. “We didn’t have high expectations, so we just went out there, chucked stuff up and tried to have fun. But now we know how to win, and we’re trying. Winning brings fun, too.”