THORNDIKE – Jim Pettis, the former boys varsity basketball coach at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, has returned to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference ranks after a one-year absence.

Pettis has been hired to the same position at Mount View of Thorndike. He replaces Mike Brown, who left after nine years to become the boys varsity coach at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield.

“He seems to be an outstanding man,” said Mount View athletic director Tom Lynch of Pettis, “the kind of man you’d want your own son to play for. He has a strong moral background as well as a strong basketball background.”

Pettis, a Belgrade resident, is credited with developing the Messalonskee squad that went 14-4 last winter and qualified for the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals. He coached the Eagles during the 2002 and 2003 campaigns, compiling a 12-20 record. His contract was not renewed for the 2004 season.

At Mount View, Pettis will be coaching in the KVAC Class B ranks – arguably the toughest Class B league in the state in recent years.

“This is a conference that has had the last two state champions [Erskine Academy of South China in 2004 and Winslow in 2003] and that doesn’t even count Camden Hills, which is probably the best program in the conference,” he said.

Pettis said he was hesitant at first about replacing Brown at Mount View, but ultimately decided to seek the position after meeting Lynch and after attending a benefit supper in the area earlier this summer for a family who had lost their home due to fire.

“My wife and I took our niece and nephew, and the attendance there was out the door, the people really came out to help,” he said. “It said a lot about the community.”

Pettis plans to install an up-tempo offense and pressing defense at Mount View, a style he fits the players currently in the system based on his observations of the school’s summer basketball team.

“My preferred style is to get out and run, to play full court for 32 minutes,” he said.

Mount View finished with an 8-10 record in 2004, good for 12th place in Eastern Maine Class B – one spot out of the playoff picture.

Ellsworth adds volleyball

Ellsworth High School is adding girls’ volleyball to its slate of sports offerings this fall.

The team will play at a club level, at least for this year, according to Ellsworth athletic director Jay Brown.

“We’ll discuss it at the end of the year, whether it will be one or two years as a club before we move to varsity status,” he said.

The Ellsworth club team will play a junior varsity schedule against the likes of Cony of Augusta, Bucksport, Mount Desert Island, Woodland and Jonesport-Beals.

Mike Kelley has been hired as the team’s coach, and the team’s first practice is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, at the high school gym.

Brown said he was approached by several students last year about the possibility of adding a volleyball team. He then surveyed the student body and got sufficient positive response to pursue the idea.

“The school board bought into it, and I think it’s going to be a great thing,” Brown said.

More than 30 girls signed up to play volleyball last spring, he said.