Despite a disappointing loss to Presque Isle Saturday, the Mount Desert Island girls basketball team is excited by its 7-1 start to the season.

Although girls basketball success at the school is nothing new, the Trojans are winning in a different way – with relatively inexperienced, unproven players who spread out the offense.

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, you’re 7-0, you must be good,'” coach Chip Taylor said after the 55-18 loss to the Wildcats. “We’ve just been getting kids to step up when we needed them to. That’s what’s good. We really have some confidence.”

The Trojans have only one player averaging more than 10 points per game.

Things might be different if junior guard-forward Kelsey Stratton was healthy, but she’s struggled off and on with a shoulder injury. Her only action was in a Dec. 12 game against George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill in which she scored six points.

MDI has been playing without Stratton, who is working her way back into the lineup, since the end of last season. Although they’d love to have her back – she averaged 17 points per game in the regular season last year – the Trojans have learned to get along without her.

“They know now they can play without her, and that’s what’s been great,” Taylor said. “They know she’s not there to bail them out.”

Junior forward Amethyst Cousins leads MDI with 11.3 points per game, followed by junior center Susan Falt (8.5 ppg) and junior guard Lindsey Lewis (7.12).

Players such as Amber Orman and Kaitlyn Vaux, who come off the bench, have contributed, too. Orman scored a game-best 13 points in a key 50-43 overtime win over Sumner of East Sullivan.

Cousins scored 12 points in a pointworthy 36-31 victory over John Bapst of Bangor, while Vaux was the next-highest scorer with eight.

And other MDI players are earning the respect of being guarded by some of the opposition’s top players. Lewis, who scored 16 points in a 57-30 win over Caribou, was defended by Presque Isle standout Katie Delong Saturday. Lewis managed just one field goal.

“People are keying on her now that they know she’s been playing well and if you leave her alone she’ll score,” Taylor said. “So they put Delong on her and knew not to leave her alone.”

Aside from Stratton, who was named to the Eastern Maine Class B all-tourney team and was a Big East Class B first-team all-star last year, and senior guard Brianne Records (3.8 ppg), Falt is the only returning player who had significant varsity game experience.

Since getting a cortisone shot and undergoing more physical therapy, Stratton has been cleared to play and will likely start practicing again this week. She probably won’t play against Ellsworth Tuesday and will likely be on the bench when MDI faces Presque Isle in a rematch Friday night and again at Caribou Saturday.

She could play again Jan. 17 when MDI visits John Bapst in Bangor.

The overachieving Trojans will gladly welcome Stratton back – and they’re ready to move on from the loss to Presque Isle.

“We’re going to be fine,” Taylor said. “John Bapst is going to win games, George Stevens and Sumner are going to win games in Class C. So we’re gonna be fine.”

Mosher sparking interest

Could Mt. Blue of Farmington junior Christina Mosher end up at the University of Maine after she graduates in 2007?

It’s a possibility, as the 6-foot-3 center has drawn interest from the Black Bears and Providence College, along with several Division II schools.

Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Paradis said former University of Maine coach Sharon Versyp expressed an interest in Mosher last year, and now that Versyp is coaching at Indiana, her replacement, Ann McInerney, has also approached Paradis.

“She’s gone and visited Maine several times when Sharon was there,” Paradis said. “The new coach did approach me after the Lawrence game at the beginning of the season.”

Franklin Pierce, a Div. II school in Rindge, N.H., has also been in touch with Paradis.

Before Friday’s game against Bangor, in which Mosher scored seven points, she was leading the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s North division with 19 points per game. She also averages about 10 rebounds per game, and had 10 against the Rams.

Bangor won the game 56-40.

“She was looking to pass more [against Bangor] and that says a lot about her character,” Paradis said. “But it does hurt us when she doesn’t get into double figures.”

Mosher was an All-Maine honorable mention last year.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.