Basketball is in the blood Some families share more than team spirit at games

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BANGOR – Occasionally in Maine high school basketball you’ll find a parent coaching a child, two siblings on the same varsity squad, or maybe an older sibling coaching a younger one, but in the Eastern Maine Class D girls basketball quarterfinals Monday morning, all three took place.

First-year Southern Aroostook High School coach Jessica Porter has a family reunion every day her team steps on the court. Porter’s younger sister, Kaylea Collier is a junior guard for the No. 2 ranked Lady Warriors.

“She is very mature and handles it well,” Porter said of coaching her younger sister. “She knows that on the court I’m just her coach.”

Kimberly Russell, also Porter’s sister, doubles as the SAHS assistant coach. All three ladies have ties to SAHS with Porter graduating in 1994, Russell in 1998 and Collier is in the Class of 2007.

Also on the Southern Aroostook squad, sisters Audrey Charette, a senior, and Amanda Charette, a junior, hit the boards for the Warriors.

Meanwhile, Limestone’s quick-footed sister duo in freshman Kellie Peers and junior Julie Peers maintained the intensity in their matchup with SAHS.

Rounding out the family ties, third-year Greater Houlton Christian Academy coach Vaughn Farrar said he has been coaching his daughter, Lacy, since junior high school and three years at the varsity level.

But when asked about his pride for his daughter after she hit a key 3-pointer and free throws late in the 64-61 win over Lee Academy, he still refused to pick her out of the crowd.

“I love her dearly, you know, but there isn’t one girl on my team that I wouldn’t love to take home as my daughter,” he said.

Lacy Farrar admits that playing for her father is “all right,” and the sport dominates family conversations.

“We talk basketball all the time.”

Socks

As Hollywood glamour evolves and runway models sport the newest designer labels, the Southern Aroostook High School’s girls basketball team refuses to alter its fashion trend.

Purple and white tie-dyed socks hug the bottom of each of their knees, and have done so for years.

Senior Audrey Charette says the style doesn’t suit her personal fashion, but since majority rules, the team has decided to pull up their knee-high socks for all four years of her basketball career.

“It’s kind of a tradition, like a team thing,” Charette said.

Apparently Southern Aroostook’s squad isn’t the only team to fancy the tall sock style because Greater Houlton Christian Academy also wears long socks. GHCA’s white socks are decorated with multicolored marker messages that grab the eye while racing under the Bangor Auditorium lights.

Senior Lacy Farrar explains that the front of the left sock reads “Giving God the Glory,” while on the back each member has their nickname inscribed. The right sock displays the signatures of each member of the GHCA team, even some of the boys team members.

First-year coaches

First-year coaches dueled in the Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal between SAHS and Limestone Community.

Although both coaches are new to their head coaching position, neither one of them is new to the coaching role.

SAHS coach Jessica Porter was the junior varsity coach at the school for six years before assuming the head coaching title from her husband.

“I love it. It’s exciting and our style of play and philosophy hasn’t changed that much from when my husband coached,” Porter said.

Porter, 29, helped her team win a state title her sophomore year of high school in 1992.

Limestone coach Jamie LaBreck also spent time as the junior varsity coach at his school before taking over the helm this year.

“It was a blast, we were so excited to get here and we worked all season to get to the floor,” LaBreck said of making it to the quarterfinal game.

As a player, the 27-year-old coach never made it to the tournaments at the Bangor Auditorium, so this trip was even more special.

“It’s nice to finally get to the floor,” LaBreck said.

Community support

Last year the Greater Houlton Christian Academy girls were ecstatic to make it to the Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal game.

This year with a 64-61 win over last year’s state champions Lee Academy, the GHCA girls will play in the school’s first-ever semifinal.

Despite its relatively new basketball program and a high school enrollment of only 57 students, whole communities packed into the Bangor Auditorium bleachers to show their Eagle pride. More than 1,000 cheering fans from Mars Hill to Sherman were there to support GHCA’s athletes.

Tony Michaud of Hodgdon, spotted leading the visiting fans in an “Eagles” cheer, argues that GHCA fans are unique.

“It’s like this all the time,” Michaud said of the packed stands. “We have the biggest following in proportion to school [size] of anyone in the state.”

From tipoff to the final buzzer, the fast-paced game was played with drive and intensity, for each team knew what was at stake – history.

“This is awesome,” said GHCA coach Farrar, after the historic win. The third-year coach was shaking with excitement and pride when he exclaimed, “We’ve never been here before, oh my, we’ve never done this before.”