The Caribou boys tennis team narrowly missed winning its first Eastern Maine title last spring before Mount Desert Island rallied to upend the undefeated and top-ranked Vikings 3-2 in the Class B regional final.

“Last year was a pretty tough loss,” said 21st-year head coach John Habeeb. “We’ve been there quite a few times before, but that was the first time we had match point on our rackets.”

A year later, the Vikings are back and probably in even stronger position to break through that championship barrier.

While Caribou graduated two players from its top seven, the Vikings return a strong nucleus and are boosted by the presence of Austrian exchange student Franz Zehentner.

Zehentner offered a glimpse of his potential at the top of Caribou’s singles chart during preseason with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Gorham’s Aaron Bergeron, a quarterfinalist in last year’s state singles tournament.

“Franz is a baseliner who goes for his shots, he’s really aggressive,” said Habeeb, “He can hit winners from both sides.

“I haven’t had a kid as talented as him since I’ve been coaching here.”

If the win over Bergeron is any indication, the stocky Zehentner has the potential to make a run deep into this year’s state singles playdown, which begins with qualifying-round matches Saturday.

“When Franz gets into it, he has another gear and he will kick into it,” said Habeeb. “He hits everything hard. He goes for winners and he goes for lines.”

Zehentner not only gives Caribou a strong presence at first singles, he enables junior Shane Belanger, who went 12-3 while playing No. 1 last spring, to compete at second singles this year.

They’ll be joined by senior Casey Lancaster, who is back at third singles after compiling a 15-0 record a year ago.

Both Belanger and Lancaster qualified for the state singles Round of 40 last spring.

Also back is the first doubles tandem of junior Taylor Jepson and Spencer McElwain, who went 13-1 last spring, while senior Keegan Wakana has a new second doubles partner in junior Tim Langlais, the team’s eighth-ranked player in 2007.

Caribou began the week with a 5-0 record that includes a 25-0 record in individual matches.

And despite a slow start to preseason workouts due to the late winter in Aroostook County, Habeeb and the Vikings are working to build toward the key matches to come.

“In the second half of the season we want to play a little better than we have in the first half,” he said. “We’re not going to predict anything, but the boys know it’s on their rackets.”

Zane bound for Rhode Island

Cody Zane of Freedom, who played high school soccer at Mount View of Thorndike until transferring to North Yarmouth Academy for his senior season, will be one of six freshmen joining the University of Rhode Island men’s soccer program this fall.

Zane was a captain at Mount View as a junior and helped the Mustangs reach the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals.

Last fall, he helped NYA reach the Western C semifinals.

Zane had 18 goals and seven assists in 64 career high school games.

He also was a starter for the U.S. Youth Soccer Association under-17 regional finalist Coastal Soccer Club, and a member of the Maine State Olympic Development State Team.

“Cody will bring us depth and versatility in the midfield and defense,” said URI coach John O’Connor in a press release, “and I can only see him getting better each time he steps on the field.

“His best days lie ahead of him.”

Kenniston leaves Lions hoop post

Terry Kenniston won’t return as the boys varsity basketball coach at Belfast Area High School next winter.

The longtime coach, teacher and school administrator has coached the Lions for the last three years, juggling those duties with his additional jobs as assistant principal and athletic administrator, a post he has held since 2003.

The Rockland native, a Bangor Daily News All-Maine selection during his high school playing days, was named 2008 KVAC Class B coach of the year after last winter guiding Belfast to a 10-9 record and a berth in the Eastern Maine Class B preliminary round, where the Lions fell to Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln.

Suvlu contributes to AAU title

A Maine AAU basketball team that includes Bangor High School senior Lee Suvlu recently won a national-level tournament, the Providence (R.I.) Jam Fest.

Suvlu played for the Team Maine Basketball Club, which won the open division of that tournament with five victories.

“Lee made some key jumpers for us, and he finished off several plays at the rim,” said Team Maine coach Jason Nicholas. “Lee played a big role for us.”

The Maine team featured six postgraduate players from Bridgton Academy, led by tournament most valuable player Isiah Wallace.

Suvlu, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard who helped Bangor win the 2007 Class A state championship and back-to-back Eastern Maine titles in 2007 and 2008, was one of just two high school players on Team Maine, along with Clearwater, Fla., junior Sean Rooks, whose mother is originally from Aroostook County.

Team Maine opened tournament play a 66-47 victory over the East Coast Elite (N.Y.) and then defeated Team CJEORO (N.J.) to advance to the second day of the event undefeated.

The Maine team followed that effort with a 74-48 with wins over Diamond State of Delaware, then used a last-second shot by Wallace for a 75-73 victory over IMG Academy of Florida to reach the championship round.

Team Maine capped off its tournament run with a 78-60 victory over the Stan Jones Basketball Club of Philadelphia, Pa., which featured Kansas-bound twins Markieff and Marcus Morris.

By winning the Providence Jam Fest championship, Team Maine received an invitation to the Reebok Summer Classic to be held in New Jersey in mid-July.

Suvlu, who gained exposure to a variety of college programs while competing at the Providence tournament, is expected to attend prep school this fall.

Palmer to lead Gardiner football

Jim Palmer, already the varsity baseball coach at Gardiner Area High School, has been named the school’s new varsity football head coach.

He replaces Matt Brown, who coached the Tigers for the last nine seasons and led Gardiner to the Class B state championship last fall.

Palmer is no stranger to the Gardiner football program, having been part of the coaching staff since 1995, including the last five years as offensive coordinator.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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