As the fall sports season enters its championship phase, the first day of high school basketball practice is less than three weeks away.

When those practices begin at Washington Academy on Nov. 20, the Raiders’ boys and girls basketball teams will be guided by two new coaches, according to athletic administrator Blaine Steeves.

Kenrick Liburd, the boys varsity coach at Narraguagus of Harrington last winter, has taken the same post at WA.

Liburd, who guided the Knights to a 3-15 record last season, replaces Chad Fitzsimmons, who stepped down after six seasons.

Fitzsimmons directed the Raiders to an 87-31 record and six postseason appearances during his tenure, including the 2004 Eastern Maine Class C final.

WA finished 11-7 in 2005-06 before falling to Madawaska in the regional quarterfinals.

Before taking the Narraguagus post, Liburd had been a player and an assistant coach at the University of Maine-Machias. Liburd, who currently is in his native London, also was an assistant soccer coach at UMM for two years.

Gary Wood, a 1984 WA graduate and a veteran junior high coach in the area, takes over the WA girls’ varsity team. He replaces Dean Preston, who left after one season and is now the boys varsity coach at Shead of Eastport.

Wood hopes to bring stability to a program that will be under its fourth head coach in as many years. The Raiders will return a veteran team from last winter, when they went 11-7 and reached the Eastern C quarterfinals before falling to Fort Kent.

Four starters are set to return, including fourth-year starters Ashley Tilton and Megan Look and third-year starter Kayla Wood, Gary Wood’s daughter.

Wood hopes to add an up-tempo dimension to a team that focused on halfcourt play a year ago.

“We want to go up and down,” said Wood, a two-year starter at shooting guard during his playing days at WA. “We want to put a lot of pressure on defensively and push the ball on offense.”

Bonded Rams poised for playoffs

A bye week and a shared experience amid some of this fall’s worst weather seemingly has left the Bangor High School football team rejuvenated entering its Pine Tree Conference Class A semifinal against Lewiston on Friday night.

That game is a rematch of their season-opener. Bangor outlasted the Blue Devils 42-35 at Cameron Stadium, with junior Shane Walton preserving the win by knocking Lewiston star Jared Turcott out of bounds just short of the goal line with 10.4 seconds left.

Nearly two months later, the Rams are 7-1 and seeded second in the division, while third-seeded Lewiston is 6-2 – with both teams losing to undefeated and top-seeded Lawrence of Fairfield.

Bangor had a bye after its 3-0 loss to Lawrence in Week 6, followed by a trip to Mt. Blue of Farmington where the Rams thrived amid heavy rain on a mud-caked field. Bangor won that game 34-0.

“Ever since [we played Mt. Blue] when we had the game in poor weather, we’ve just come together as a team,” said senior captain Tom Crews. “We went out there as a team, and didn’t even care about the weather, we just had a lot of fun. We’ve just been bonding really well.”

That showed last weekend, when the Rams closed out their regular season with a 45-21 victory over winless Oxford Hills in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score. Bangor led 38-0 at halftime and 45-0 early in the third quarter before the Rams went deep into their bench to close out the game.

“We’re so united as a team,” said senior end Sean Flynn, the team leader in quarterback sacks. “When we all huddle up we make jokes and have fun, but we get the job done.”

Bangor also displayed its short passing game against Oxford Hills. Tight ends Ryan Weston and Alex Gallant, who had combined for just eight pass receptions in Bangor’s first seven games, teamed up for four catches against the Vikings.

That may bode well not only for Bangor’s postseason passing game, but also for a Rams’ rushing attack led by Walton, who is closing in on 1,000 yards for the season.

“We’ve been working all season just to play in these postseason games,” Walton said.

John Bapst-FA set for Saturday

The LTC Class C semifinal between Foxcroft Academy and John Bapst of Bangor will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at Oakes Field in Dover-Foxcroft, according to Foxcroft athletic administrator Tim Smith.

Traditionally the game would be played Friday night, but because John Bapst had to play its regular-season finale on Monday, the first-round playoff game was pushed back a day. The afternoon starting time came about because a masquarade ball is scheduled at Foxcroft on Saturday night.

John Bapst rallied from a 14-6 deficit to defeat Orono 34-20 on Monday to earn the LTC’s fourth and final playoff berth. The Crusaders and Rockland each finished 5-4 and with identical Crabtree points, but Bapst won the tiebreaker – and its first trip to postseason play since 1997 — by virtue of its 27-26 regular-season victory over the Tigers.

Undefeated Foxcroft, which has made 13 consecutive playoff appearances and has not lost on its home field since 2001, defeated John Bapst 26-6 in Week 8 of the regular season en route to its 9-0 record.

The other LTC Class C semifinal is set for 7 p.m. Friday night, as No. 2 Bucksport (7-2) will host No. 3 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (6-3).

Around the West

The seedings held to form during last Friday’s Western A football quarterfinals, as two-time defending state champion Bonny Eagle of Standish, Marshwood of Eliot, Gorham and Deering of Portland all advanced. Top-ranked Bonny Eagle (9-0) had the most difficult time, defeating No. 8 Massabesic of Waterboro 16-7. The Fighting Scots, who have won 13 in a row overall, welcomed back starting quarterback Ryan Walker, who had been sidelined with a separated shoulder. On Saturday, coach Kevin Cooper’s club will host No. 4 Deering (7-2), a 42-0 quarterfinal winner over Biddeford behind 187 rushing yards from senior tailback Brian Sandora. Bonny Eagle edged Deering 13-7 during Week 7 at Portland, a game in which Walker did not play. … No. 2 Marshwood remained unbeaten with a 19-0 victory over Portland. The Hawks (9-0) will host No. 3 Gorham (8-1), which whipped Noble of North Berwick 50-20 last week behind four rushing touchdowns from Justin Villacci. Marshwood and Gorham did not meet during the regular season. … Mountain Valley of Rumford earned the top seed for this weekend’s Western B semifinals, topping Cape Elizabeth 18-6 in a season-ending battle of the unbeatens. The Falcons, who have outscored their opponents 343-20 while amassing a 9-0 record, will host No. 4 Greely of Cumberland Center on Friday night. Mountain Valley defeated the 5-4 Rangers 35-7 in Week 5. Greely enters postseason play with a 2-3 record in its last five games, including a 24-22 loss to Falmouth last weekend. … Cape Elizabeth (8-1) will host defending WM champion York (7-2) in the other semifinal. The Capers defeated York 14-8 in Week 3. … In the Western C semifinals, defending state champion Lisbon (9-0) hosts No. 4 Jay (5-4) on Saturday while No. 2 Livermore Falls (7-2) will host No. 3 Boothbay (7-2) on Friday night. Lisbon, which concluded its season with a 36-0 shutout of Winthrop, knocked off Jay 22-6 during their regular-season meeting in Week 7. Livermore Falls has won seven straight since opening with losses to Lisbon and Foxcroft, including a 28-14 win at Boothbay in Week 3.