This time of year, the Calvary Chapel Christian School girls basketball team has one more reason to be thankful – the fact they’re a team in the first place.

The 2007-08 season marks the first time since 2003-04 the Sabers have been a varsity squad. The team folded in 2004 because the Orrington-based school could not find a coach to replace the previous one, and several girls had decided not to play.

Even though Calvary Chapel is 0-2 this year, the Sabers have been competitive in both games. And the fact they’re a full-fledged varsity squad is enough for the team to be excited.

“A lot of them wanted to be varsity last year, but [the administration] decided it wasn’t time yet,” said new coach Michelle Sherbak, a former Washburn High player who teaches several math and science classes, along with SAT prep in the spring.

The Sabers played a junior varsity schedule for three seasons while their varsity team was shut down.

In 2003-04, the Sabers went 7-8 in Eastern Maine Class D regular-season play and finished 11th in the Heal Point standings. That earned Calvary Chapel a preliminary round game in which they fell 49-30 to No. 6 Lubec.

Sherbak would like to see her squad make it to the playoffs this season.

“I know it sounds clich?, but it’s difficult to be a first-year team and come out and lose a game, and then go back out there for the next one,” she said. “But I’d like them to have the opportunity to make the playoff bracket.”

In order to do that, the Sabers would have to finish No. 15 or better in the Eastern Maine Class D standings. To do that, Calvary Chapel will have to overcome two hurdles this season.

The first is in the size and experience of the team. Sherbak has just seven players, including two eighth-graders, and no seniors.

But the five all have either junior varsity or middle school experience, and it’s a group that has shown it can play.

“We have a really varied defense, which is good,” Sherbak said. “What we do [for defense] really depends on who we play. We can play a 2-3 [zone], a 1-2-2 if we play a team with an outside game, and we’ve done man to man although it’s exhausting to play that the whole game.”

The Sabers’ scoring has been spread out, although guard Faith Thomas has emerged as the leading scorer. She put up a game-high 19 points in Saturday’s matchup against Shead of Eastport, which the Tigerettes won 48-36.

The rest of the starting lineup is made up of forwards Michelle Norsworthy and Meagan Kettell, point guard Ashley Pomeroy, and 5-foot-8 center Hannah Lacadie.

Meagan Warman and Emilye Mills are the two eighth-graders, but they’re not entirely green. As seventh-graders both starred on a Calvary Chapel team that won the B bracket of the Maine Mid-Coast Basketball League.

The second challenge comes in the Sabers’ tough 14-game schedule, with matchups against well-established programs from Jonesport-Beals, Shead, Rangeley, Greenville, Deer Isle-Stonington, Highview Christian of Charleston and Lubec.

Then there’s a Jan. 12 game against Woodland, one of the preseason favorites to win Eastern Maine Class D.

“It’s going to be a challenging year,” Sherbak said, acknowledging the team’s schedule.

Calvary Chapel opened the regular season with a 52-24 loss to Jonesport-Beals. The Sabers led after the first quarter but got behind at halftime and couldn’t hold on in the third.

Those things sometimes happen with fledgling programs.

“We always seem to have trouble in the third quarter,” Sherbak said. “It’s been difficult, almost like they lose their focus. But every time they step on the floor, I’ve seen them improve.”

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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