Matt Rossignol has either played or coached basketball every year since he first took up the sport as a youngster in his native Van Buren.

That run will end next winter, as Rossignol has stepped down as the boys varsity basketball coach at Madawaska High School after nine seasons.

“He might be the best bench coach I’ve ever seen, and he’s been great for the kids here, too,” said Madawaska athletic administrator Ed Marshall, who received Rossignol’s letter of resignation Tuesday morning.

“His family is first and foremost, and always has been,” added Marshall. “He has strong family values, and he also shared those with the kids he coached.”

Rossignol, who had a legendary playing career at Van Buren and went on to compete at the University of Maine before joining the coaching ranks, cited family reasons for his decision.

“My kids still go to school in Van Buren,” said Rossignol, who lives in Van Buren and teaches in Madawaska, “and I want to be able to follow them.”

Last winter Rossignol had the challenge of coaching oldest son Dominique, a senior guard who had transferred from Van Buren to Madawaska as a sophomore, against second-oldest son Derrick, a freshman guard for Van Buren.

“Coaching against your own son isn’t a good situation,” said Rossignol, who also has two younger children coming up through the Van Buren school system.

The 1985 graduate of Van Buren High School was one of the most prolific scorers in state schoolboy basketball history, finishing his career with 2,257 points. He established several tournament records, including a 51-point single-game performance in 1985 – before the 3-point shot was instituted – that stood as the Eastern Maine Class B tourney standard for 22 years until Ellsworth’s Corey DeWitt scored 52 points last winter in a triple-overtime quarterfinal victory over Hermon.

Rossignol also experienced success at the collegiate level, scoring 1,297 career points at the University of Maine.

After graduating from the Orono campus in 1989, Rossignol immediately entered the varsity coaching ranks and went on to compile a 178-156 record during 18 years at Houlton, Van Buren and Madawaska,

He served as boys varsity coach at Houlton from 1989 to 1993, leading the Shiretowners to three tournament appearances in those four years.

Rossignol then returned home to Van Buren, where he coached the Crusaders from 1993 to 1998 and led the team to four trips to the tournament in five years, including three appearances in the Eastern Maine Class D semifinals.

Rossignol became Madawaska’s head coach in 1998. He guided Madawaska to a 26-11 record and two playoff appearances during his first two years but then opted to step down, only to return when a replacement could not be found.

He stayed with the Owls for seven more seasons and finished his Madawaska tenure with an overall record of 84-84. That run was highlighted by back-to-back trips to the Eastern Maine Class C semifinals. In 2005 he coached the Owls to a 16-4 season, including the program’s first-ever tournament victory at the Bangor Auditorium when the Owls defeated George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill 56-47.

Madawaska won a second straight quarterfinal in 2006 with a 66-47 victory over Washington Academy of East Machias.

Madawaska finished 7-11 record last winter.

Edwards shakes off injury

The Bangor baseball team had a scary moment during the second inning of Monday night’s 10-0, five-inning victory over Old Town at Mansfield Stadium.

That’s when starting pitcher and shortstop Ian Edwards swung and fouled a 1-2 pitch from the Coyotes’ standout Jarrett Lukas off his pitching hand.

The game was halted briefly while Edwards – 5-0 this spring with four complete-game shutouts and a 29-inning scoreless streak – repeatedly shook his right hand in an attempt to regain some feeling.

“It felt kind of weird,” said Edwards after the game, his right index finger still slightly swollen. “I had some numbness in both my index finger and my thumb, so I didn’t really know what to think at first.”

Edwards eventually completed his at-bat and popped out to first base, then had his hand iced in the dugout by Bangor head trainer John Ryan.

“I was more concerned about him being able to grip the ball than anything else,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey. “I didn’t think it was anything serious, but he couldn’t feel anything right off.”

Edwards returned to the mound to pitch in the top of the third inning, and while his first warmup delivery sailed to the backstop, he quickly regained control and shut Old Town out on two hits the rest of the way.

“If I had broken it I really would have known, and I can still bend it,” said Edwards. “The life came back into my finger and thumb after a couple of minutes, but during that at-bat I couldn’t feel my finger.”