Mills lands post with Crusaders

In 27-year-old Jason Mills, Mike Thomas said he got exactly what he wanted for the vacant John Bapst boys basketball coach position.

“I was looking for someone young and enthusiastic,” said Thomas, the athletic director at the Bangor school.

Thomas said Monday that Mills, a former assistant varsity coach at Central of Corinth, will take over the John Bapst varsity team this year.

Mills coached middle school basketball and served for five years as an assistant to Jamie Russell when Russell was the Central boys skipper. Mills was also the school’s athletic director for three years.

“I’ve known Jason for quite a while,” Thomas said. “Jason is a young fella. He has real game knowledge and passion. We thought he was the best fit for John Bapst right now.”

Mills said Thomas called him Saturday morning to let Mills know he had his first varsity head coaching job.

“It’s a very big step up,” said Mills, who lives in Lagrange and won’t let the 25-minute drive to Bangor bother him. “It’s not too bad and I’m in Bangor all the time, anyway.”

Mills is a physical education teacher at Penquis of Milo. He graduated from Penquis in 1992 and was a 1992 Class C all-tournament honorable mention for the Patriots and a Penquis League all-star. Thomas said Mills is a University of Maine graduate.

Thomas said five people, including Mills, applied for the position.

Former John Bapst coach Miragliuolo skippered the Crusaders for one season. He resigned earlier this month before moving to North Carolina, where he will be coaching cross country and baseball.

The Crusaders were 14-5 in Class A under Miragliuolo last year. Mills said he doesn’t want to tinker with the team too much.

“We’re going to play an aggressive man-to-man and run the floor, but we can be patient in the half court,” he said. “I want us to play strong defense.”

Caribou coach

Jeff Jose is another newly hired coach who got his start under a well-known skipper.

Jose, who will coach the Caribou High girls basketball team this winter, was an assistant for three years under longtime Vikings boys coach Gerry Duffy.

Jose’s last basketball coaching stint at Caribou came 13 years ago, when he was the freshman coach. The 1970 Caribou graduate, who is the golf professional at the Caribou Country Club, has coached varsity golf and recently had two daughters graduate from Caribou.

He also taught science at the high school and was a member of the Vikings’ 1969 state Class A championship team.

“It was kind of a surprise to me,” said Hunter, who wasn’t expecting Jose to apply when the position opened up. “Today we’re always looking for quality people who are already in the system.”

Jose replaces Chris Casavant, who in May took the boys coaching position. Casavant replaces Jim Carter, who coached the Vikings for the past four years. Casavant is only the fourth Caribou boys basketball coach in the last 35 years.

Bapst girls fare well in Holland

A team of John Bapst girls soccer players finished ninth out of 16 teams in the under-17 age group at the Holland Cup last month.

The team posted wins over Denmark and Switzerland. The girls scored 11 goals and allowed 13. Julie Crotty led the squad with three goals and four assists; Katie Rice had two goals and two assists; and Debbie Legere and Meghan Sekera had a goal and an assist apiece. Goalie Nicole Yeo made 75 saves.

More than 3,500 athletes from about 25 countries competed in the tournament.