BAR HARBOR – After more than two decades as a high school basketball coach, Wilton Jones has decided to consider life after tournament time.

So Jones has stepped down as boys varsity basketball coach at Mount Desert Island, a post he has held for the last 14 seasons.

“Twenty-three years, that’s the bottom line,” said Jones. “The administration here has been great to me, there’s no issues, nothing going on. It’s just time for a change.”

Jones coached junior varsity basketball for nine years, one year at Ellsworth and eight years at MDI, before replacing Ray Katsiaficas as the Trojans’ head coach for the 1993-94 season.

He compiled a 162-90 regular-season record as MDI’s varsity coach, with 11 winning seasons in 14 years.

During his second year at the varsity helm, Jones guided MDI to the only Eastern Maine championship for boys basketball won by the school since it was formed for the 1968-1969 school year.

Led by forward Marc Corliss, MDI finished the 1994-95 season top-ranked in Eastern Maine Class B with a 15-3 record and won the regional tournament with a 73-47 victory over Orono in the title game. Corliss was named the tournament MVP, while teammates Rob Gilbert and Lucas Dunbar also earned all-tourney honors.

Greely High of Cumberland Center defeated the Trojans 69-55 in that year’s state final.

MDI nearly pulled off a double the next season, entering postseason play top-ranked with a 15-3 record before its season was ended in a 58-57 loss to Orono in the Eastern B final.

“Obviously the guys I had when we won the Eastern Maine championship and the next year when we lost in the Eastern Maine final by one point was a great bunch of guys,” said Jones. “And having the chance to coach my sons Ian and Kyle was special. We had some good teams when they played, and that was fun, too.”

Jones informed school officials and team members before the 2006-07 season began that this would be his last year on the Trojans’ bench.

“I had debated about whether I was coming back this year,” he said, “and I told people before the year that this was going to be my last year. The kids knew and the administration knew, so there was no surprise.”

This year’s MDI team finished with a 14-4 record before being upended by Winslow 54-50 in overtime in the preliminary round leading to the tournament.

“It was a fun year, a great group of kids,” Jones said.

While he won’t be leading the team next year, Jones is optimistic about the program’s future.

“One good thing is we had a great JV team this year and a good freshman team,” he said, “and with the returning players we have I think the program is in great shape so whoever the next coach is will have the opportunity to come in and keep things rolling and hopefully win a championship someday.”

Jones plans to continue teaching social studies and coaching golf at MDI, but is looking forward to having more free time.

“Times have changed,” he said, “and to stay at one place for a long time, like Jeff Hart has [at Camden Hills of Rockport], I don’t think you’re going to see that as much anymore.

“I feel fortunate to have had the chance to coach at the same place for 22 years.”