Ellsworth tabs Austin, Deetjen for basketball coaching posts

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Ellsworth High School will have two new varsity basketball coaches in place next winter with very different backgrounds.

Longtime middle school coach Peter Austin has been hired to take over the boys basketball team, while former Boothbay High School and 2005 University of Maine-Farmington graduate Robert Deetjen will coach the girls.

The two new coaches were officially hired Tuesday night.

Austin, who works for the Ellsworth Water Department, has coached at Ellsworth Middle School for about 20 years.

“He’s very familiar with the people here, he’s coached AAU and he’s coached these kids,” Ellsworth athletic director Jay Brown said. “We have a strong middle-school group coming up that he’s been a part of. He’s got a great relationship with these kids and he knows each of their individual talents.”

Austin was a multi-sport standout for Ellsworth, which he graduated from in 1983.

Brown served as the Eagles coach for two seasons but resigned in March to get back to focusing on his full-time athletic director duties.

“I just think it’s in real capable hands,” Brown said.

Deetjen, who is a special education teacher at Ellsworth, has coached at the middle school but never coached at the high school level. What he lacks in coaching experience, Brown said, Deetjen makes up for in other ways.

Deetjen was a 1,000-point scorer at both Boothbay, where he was named All-Maine honorable mention in 2001, and UMF. He also served as a team captain at both schools.

Brown said Ellsworth liked Deetjen’s background of playing for two of the top coaches in the state, Boothbay’s I.J. Pinkham and UMF’s Dick Meader.

“He has a strong foundation of knowledge from both of those coaches,” Brown said. “I think he’ll [integrate] that with his own ideas for the program. … We were really impressed with his knowledge of the game and his enthusiasm.”

Deetjen replaces Dana Smith, who resigned after five years.

The Eagles have struggled in the last two seasons with just three wins in that span. Deetjen plans to make some changes, Brown said.

“He wants to revamp the program from the rec level to the high school and get a system in place,” Brown added.

Baseball all-star games set

Three all-star games for Maine high school baseball players are planned for next month.

The Maine Senior All-Star game, at which the winner of the Mr. Maine Baseball award will be announced, will be held June 22 at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish. Game time is 7 p.m. Eastern Maine all-stars will play Western Maine all-stars.

There will be two games June 18, both at Hadlock Field in Portland.

The first, a match between Maine’s senior all-stars and their counterparts from New Hampshire, will start at noon. That game will be followed by an underclassman all-star game matching up East against West.

Rosters will be announced at a later date.

For more information contact Mike Coutts, 878-2600.

Nine earn Dexter Tiger Awards

Nine Dexter Regional High School student-athletes were honored recently with their selection as recipients of the 2007 Tiger Awards.

The Tiger Award was established in 2004 to recognize and promote a superior level of participation among the athletes at Dexter High and to recognize exemplary athletic achievement.

It is given annually to Dexter students who have shown an understanding of the importance of athletic participation and who have been dedicated, high-performing team members in a variety of athletic situations. Tiger Award recipients have distinguished themselves in an assortment of athletic experiences rather than specializing in a single sport.

To be eligible for a Tiger Award, an athlete must play two sports and accumulate six varsity letters during their high school careers. Award recipients then are selected based on the following criteria: sportsmanship, character, leadership, dedication, and athletic contributions/achievements.

Those receiving the 2007 Tiger Awards during a banquet held Sunday were Dan Beatham, Lindsay Burton, Chelsie Chambers, Quinn Dillon, Dan Fournier, Ryan Newcomb, Katie Poirier, Steve Robinson, and Aaron Woodman.