BAR HARBOR — Last year’s undefeated freshmen boys’ basketball team at Mount Desert Island High School was a tough act to follow. But this year’s team held its own. “We had a great year, Coach Tony McKim said. “The boys learned quickly how we do things in the MDI boys’ basketball program. They adapted to that from the grade school level really well.”
The team had a 10-2 record on the season and finished third in the end-of-season tournament.
“We beat Hermon in the tournament quarterfinals,” McKim said. The semifinal matchup was with Brewer, against whom they were 1-1 during the season. Brewer won and progressed to the finals against John Bapst, whom MDI beat twice during the year.
“A lot of them had already played together in middle school or Acadian Basketball Association (ABA) teams,” said McKim, who also is active in ABA and other youth sports. McKim said that the ABA was formed “to get the kids together, to learn about each other and their strengths and weaknesses, and most of all, to become friends.”
In every practice all season, McKim likes to spend “between a half an hour and 40 minutes on fundamentals,” he said. “Each practice and each game got better and better. Their progression was as good as any group I’ve coached.”
The rivalry with Ellsworth is strong, even at the freshman level. The first time the MDI freshmen met the Eagles was their second game of the season. MDI lost by three points. “When we met them later in the season, we won by more than 20 points,” McKim said. “It was a good matchup both times.”
Liz Graves
Latest posts by Liz Graves (see all)
- Abbe returns artifacts to tribes - September 17, 2020
- Vacation rental workshop held; Planning Board debates bylaws - September 10, 2020
- Hospital marks transitions, thanks supporters - September 10, 2020
Leave a Reply