If there was a timeout late in the fourth quarter, you’d hear the chant from the Hall-Dale student section: “We’ve got Ter-rill!”
Brandon Terrill coached the Hall-Dale girls basketball team for six seasons, and the students chanted that in Farmingdale and at tournament games in Augusta and Bangor. Terrill resigned recently, citing time constraints. The Bulldogs finished 10-9 this season, losing to Carrabec in the preliminary round.
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“It’s something I was thinking about since the season ended,” said Terrill, who is also a teacher at Hall-Dale. “I got accepted to grad school at UMaine-Farmington last week, and that was the deciding factor.”
Terrill and his wife have one child and are expecting another, and that also played into the decision, he said.
“Next winter, I’ll be taking two grad school classes,” Terrill said. “I’ll have a 4-year-old daughter and a 5-month-old son, in addition to being a full-time teacher.
“If I was going to keep coaching, I would have to give a half effort as a coach, or a half effort as a husband and a father. Neither of those options were acceptable to me, so I had to step away.”
Terrill, who had an 85-37 record over six seasons with the Bulldogs, said he told his players of his decision at the team’s basketball banquet on Wednesday night. He said he chose that setting so he could thank all the players and parents.
“It was very tough,” he said. “It was very emotional. Parents were always great. You hear horror stories all the time about parents who meddle and undermine. But I don’t have any of those stories. None.”
At Hall-Dale, Terrill’s teams won two Mountain Valley Conference championships, two regional titles, and the Class C state championship in 2011. The next year, Hall-Dale won the Western C sportsmanship award.
“We actually accepted the award, and then played in the state championship game,” Terrill remembered.
Terrill also credited his assistant coaches: Gordon Fuller, Jarod Richmond and Christen Lachapelle.
“Best assistant coaches in the area, as far as I’m concerned,” Terrill said.
While Terrill is resigning from coaching basketball, he will stay on as defensive coordinator for the Cony football team, in part because of the smaller workload as an assistant.
“The football schedule is so much easier on a family,” he said. “I’m done by 5 p.m. every day. There’s one game a week, and it’s at the same time every week.”
At 30 years old, Terrill also plans on coaching basketball again at some point.
“I don’t think this is the end of my career,” he said. “I think someday I’ll be back on the basketball sidelines for sure. But it probably won’t be for some time.
“It was a really difficult decision. It saddens me to do it, but I’m at peace with it, because family comes first for me. It’s just a decision I have to make for my family.”
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There have been several other recent coaching changes in the area. Pete McLaughlin, the Messalonskee boys basketball coach, is now also the Messalonskee baseball coach, replacing Ray Bernier. At Winslow, Aaron Wolfe is the new baseball coach, replacing Jesse LaCasse.
At Hall-Dale, Steve Acedo has stepped in as the softball coach, replacing Christen Lachapelle. Hall-Dale athletic director Colin Roy said Acedo was interviewed on March 2 and hired two days later. Acedo assisted Lachapelle at the varsity level and also was involved with the middle school softball program, Roy said.
Winthrop is looking for a softball coach after posting the job online on March 5.
“We had two applicants, and we are interviewing on Monday,” athletic director Joel Stoneton said. “We just found out last week that we were going to have someone new come in.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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