Clark ends 16-year stint as Old Town coach

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Old Town boys basketball coach Marty Clark had some good basketball teams and special memories over the years – a 1991 team that won a state title, a 1993 squad that went undefeated, four seasons in a row with at least 14 wins, the ability to stay competitive as one of the smaller schools in Eastern Maine Class A – but this season’s club ranks right up there.

“They’re a classy group,” Clark said Thursday evening. “They’re as good of a group as I’ve ever had.”

In fact, Clark waited around for this team to finish its season – which is did with Wednesday’s 70-62 Class A preliminary round loss to Mount Ararat of Topsham – before deciding to resign from the position he’s held since 1988.

“This was a tough, tough decision,” he said. “I’m really second-guessing myself. But I believe it’s the right thing for Old Town and for me.”

Clark, who is a social studies teacher at the high school, will stay on as the Indians’ tennis coach.

There were a number of factors in the decision, Clark said. His high school-aged children are starting to play sports and he wasn’t sure he wanted to put them through the scrutiny that comes with being the coach’s kid. Clark said his wife Betsy wanted him around a little more.

And there’s something else that has led him to want to get out of basketball coaching now.

“I will admit, I’ve had my share of small complaints,” Clark said. “But talking to other coaches I’ve had it very good. I think reaction around town will be mixed. It’s hard to please everybody and Old Town is a small, closed community.”

Clark, a 1980 Old Town graduate who played on an 18-0 team that won an Eastern Maine title but lost to South Portland in the state final, coached the Indians to a 253-143 regular-season record.

His 1991 team earned a 68-63 win over Biddeford for the Class A title. Clark was named Big East Coach of the Year six times and was twice the Eastern Maine Class A Coach of the Year.

And his Indian squads won sportsmanship awards from the Maine Principals’ Association, the Big East Conference, and the referees.

As of this season only Bangor High’s Roger Reed (18 seasons) had a coaching tenure longer than Clark among the Big East Conference teams.

Tim Prescott, who coaches the Presque Isle boys, had 19 years in Class A before the Wildcats dropped to Class B this year. Lawrence of Fairfield’s Mike McGee has coached the Bulldogs since 1985-86.

“I always had a lot of respect for the opposing coaches,” Clark said.

Clark has told Old Town principal Joe Gallant and athletic director Greg Thibodeau that he will resign, although they’ve tried to talk him out of it, Clark added. But he hasn’t made his resignation official yet.

He said junior varsity coach Mike Thurston, who was more like a second head coach than an assistant, Clark added, has also resigned.

“I think it’ll be a good thing for Old Town,” Clark said of the change. “There are good kids coming through. The program’s in good shape.”

Loss motivated Windjammers

Frustrated after a loss at Belfast, wondering about how his team would generate offense near the end of games, Camden Hills girls basketball coach Jay Carlsen consulted some of his fellow coaches.

He sat down with Windjammers boys coach Jeff Hart, and talked to Cony of Augusta girls coach Paul Vachon and Cheverus of Portland boys skipper Bob Brown.

“I said, ‘This is what we’ve got. Give me some ideas,’ Carlsen said after Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B final. “And so in the last week of the season we put in some different things, looking to attack the basket.”

Five days after Camden Hills dropped a 40-32 decision to Belfast, the Windjammers rolled to a 93-45 victory over Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield. And Saturday, No. 8 Camden Hills earned a 39-34 win over No. 6 Hermon in the Eastern Maine final.

“The kids deserve this,” Carlsen said. “From where they’ve come in the last couple of weeks, it’s just amazing.”

The Windjammers’ run to the title started with a preliminary win over No. 9 Ellsworth. They knocked off No. 1 Presque Isle, which was undefeated in the regular season, in the quarterfinals. Then, Camden Hills topped No. 4 Caribou in the semis before beating the Hawks in the final.

But in the regular season the Windjammers were 2-6 against teams that made it to the Bangor Auditorium.

So what’s changed?

“We opened up the middle of the floor and allowed the kids to dribble penetrate,” Carlsen said. “We put the ball in our guards hands and we said, ‘play.’ We gave them some parameters and some basic rules and we just let them go.”

The Windjammers like the new, more free-flowing offense.

“We’ve been focused just on playing offense, not having a set offense but just playing and doing what we can to get it in the hoop,” senior Claire Neville said.