Messalonskee enters the winter sports season
Transition at the top is the operative phrase for both the boys’ and girls’ basketball programs as Messalonskee enters the winter sports season in earnest next week.
Both teams feature a new head coach: Seth Farrington for the boys and Kelly Anderson for the girls.
Messalonskee athletic director Chad Foye said so far players seem to be positive about the fresh faces in charge.
“I’m pleased at how well things are going for both [coaches],” Foye said.
Farrington, an assistant coach with the University of Southern Maine’s men’s basketball team last season, replaces Sam Smith, a coach who led the Eagles to Class A North championship en route to a berth in the Class A state title game.
The Eagles graduated all but one starter from that team and thus have a roster filled with largely inexperienced players with the exception of junior Sean Achorn – the lone starter back – and Anderson Arbour, a key reserve last season, according to Foye.
Foye, though, said Farrington has approached the challenge he faces with energy and enthusiasm.
“Everybody I talk to tells me about the ton of time he puts in with the kids and with scouting,” Foye said.
Anderson, the girls’ basketball coach at Messalonskee Middle School last winter, takes over from Tatum Welch, who coached the Messalonskee girls for a single season.
Foye said Anderson has impressed him with her approach to coaching the team. She is not a coach, he said, who expects players to fit into her system.
“Flexibility and relying on what are the strengths of her team is her approach,” he said.
Foye said the Messalonskee girls’ team returns three experienced players in Ella Hanson, Sophia Ventimiglia, and Leah Adams.
Both the Messalonskee girls and boys open the 2025-26 season at home against Mt. Blue on Friday, Dec. 5. The girls tip off at 5 p.m. and the boys at 6:30.