Valley coach at 300 wins

If not for a particulary significant historical achievement, Wednesday night’s boys basketball game in Jackman between Valley of Bingham and Forest Hills would have barely been a blip on the radar screen.

But thanks to the Cavaliers’ 87-55 victory over Forest Hills, head coach Dwight Littlefield joined an exclusive club.

The newest member of the 300-win club, which has only about a dozen members, improved his 22-year coaching record to 300-105.

Even after a school rally in his honor Thursday morning, Littlefield sounded modest when asked about the milestone, preferring to focus on the team instead.

“Yeah, it’s kind of nice to have that done before the tournament starts,” Littlefield said. “As far as the milestone goes, I haven’t thought too much about that yet. It’s just another win. We’re just trying to get ready for the tournament.”

The Cavaliers finished the regular season 17-0 to begin the postseason defense of their 1998 Class D state championship – one of his most memorable and exciting coaching experiences.

“Last year certainly was a highlight because we went all the way and won the first gold ball for Valley,” he said. “It was surprising because we weren’t considered an early-season favorite. We just played well together and everything for them kind of came together well.

“In the Western Maine final, we were down five with 42 seconds left. We made two and then they missed a foul shot, and we came down and hit a three to tie. Then we won in overtime.”

The 54-year-old math teacher said it’s hard to pick just one thing he likes best about coaching.

“I think I like just working with the kids and the competition. I like the X’s and O’s and seeing other coaches in the business,” Littlefield said. “I’ve had chances to listen to [Dick] Valvano, Rollie Massimino, George Raveling, Lou Carnesecca at St. John’s, [Jim] Calhoun at Connecticut, Calipari… There’s a lot to like.”

Littlefield joins high school coaching giants on the 300-plus list like Dick Barstow (500+), George Wentworth, Bob Cimbollek and Ordie Alley (400+), Bernard “Bunny” Paradis, fellow Albion native Ron Marks, Gerry Duffy, Bill Obermeyer, Bob Brewer, I.J. Pinkham, Art Dyer, Ed Taylor, Ed Guiski, and Phil Faulkner.

Skowhegan will be well-represented by the University of Maine’s incoming freshman student-athlete class next fall.

Two field hockey stars, Tara Bedard and Kim Leo, and football standout Ben Clark have accepted partial scholarships and will play for the Black Bears next fall.

Clark, a Pine Tree Conference All-Star Team first-team selection and 1,000-yard passer, has been recruited to play quarterback.

Bedard and Leo, both two-time members of the Maine coaches all-state and all-Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams, led the Indians to two straight Eastern Maine Class A titles and the 1998 state crown.

Another Skowhegan sports star, basketball guard Braden Clement, has narrowed down his college choices. The 1998 NEWS All-Maine first-teamer has applied to Bowdoin, Colby, Dartmouth, Brown, Wheaton, and Amherst.

John Bapst coach Tim White has a simple message for sports fans who still think of a steel cage match between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan when the subject of wrestling comes up.

“Wrestling is not just getting out there and rolling around like a couple of cerebrally deficient behemoths,” said the Crusaders’ wrestling coach. “These kids are very bright and very focused.”

One of White’s wrestlers was particularly focused at Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference championship meet at Bucksport.

Kevin Higgins, the fourth seed in the 140-pound weight class, upset top seed James Ward of Foxcroft Academy with a pin after three minutes, and 47 seconds of tactical, attack and counterattack action.

It was Higgins’ first win over Ward in three matches this year.

Higgins’ win was particularly satisfying for White, who remembered how far his senior had come.

“I was just so proud of the kid,” White said. “He had never wrestled before four years ago, and he really started out with minimal skills.”