When Stearns High School opened up the 1993-94 basketball season with a well-deserved victory over Ellsworth last Tuesday night, the Minutemen did so with only six practices under their belt.

Nine members of the varsity basketball team were also members of the Stearns football team which played its way into the state Class C championship game against Old Orchard Beach on Nov. 20 – five days after the official opening of practice.

First-year Stearns coach Greg Friel then gave his team another week off before starting practice on Monday, Nov. 29.

“I’ve been that way for the last couple of years,” Friel said of the over-lapping seasons. “I’ve seen some of the guys get frustrated by getting pushed right into basketball. I knew as an assistant football coach that I wanted some time off. We don’t have our basketball legs yet, but having eight days between our first and second game will help.”

Despite the shortened preseason, the Minutemen were impressive in Tuesday’s come-from-behind 79-63 win against Ellsworth.

“When we fell behind early, I was wondering to myself, `we’ll find out what we’re made of,’ ” Friel admitted. “I didn’t know if they’d buckle or not. They showed some heart.”

It was a win which Friel hoped would boost his player’s confidence. After back-to-back seasons of 5-13 and 2-16, the Minutemen are not the most confident of hoopsters.

“It really was a key win,” Friel said. “I know one game isn’t going to be an indication (of the season), but we wanted to win a few games early and stay in the hunt, later on in the season we might have a chance to make a tournament appearance.” – – –

The Bangor High School football team held its postseason banquet recently and elected captains for the 1994 season.

Leading the Ram gridders next season will be: tailback Josh Jamieson, quarterback Mark McEwen, tight end Nat Clark, and center Danny O’Connell. – – –

In other football news, Kevin Withee, who headed the Skowhegan football program for the past three seasons, stepped down from that position recently.

“I just haven’t felt that I’ve been able to put the time in what I want to put in,” said Withee. “I don’t want to get out of coaching. I’m still young and enthusiastic, but right now I think I’d make a better assistant coach than a head coach.”

Withee, who has a 19-month old child and another one on the way, would also like to spend more time with his family. Especially while his children are young.

“I really want to see them grow up,” Withee said. “I’ve seen people in the coaching profession that have children grow up and they weren’t a part of it. I want to be a part of it.”

In his three seasons at Skowhegan, Withee posted an 8-19 record. His first team finished 6-3 and qualified for the Pine Tree Conference playoffs.