Thomas College’s KJ Ravagli, right, passes the ball around UMaine-Farmington defender Tia Day during women’s basketball action last season in Farmington. The Terriers, who were as low as seven available players at one point last season, will enter the 2022-2023 season with a roster of 18 under new head coach Jason Coleman. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The Thomas College women’s basketball team went 2-19 last season and finished with just eight players.

Enter new coach Jason Coleman, who said he’s committed to rebuilding the struggling program.

Since his hiring in April, Coleman has constructed a roster of 18 players, including 11 freshmen and two sophomores. Guard Kiara Goggin, of Gardiner, is the team’s lone senior.

Coleman focused his recruiting efforts primarily in central Maine. Among the newcomers is Hannah Coolen, who scored over 1,000 points during her career at Mount View High School. Coolen was the second player in school history to achieve the mark, behind Maine Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Emily Ellis.

“A lot of (the recruiting) was pre-established relationships with coaching players in the past in AAU circuits, or knowing their high school or club coach, finding (players) that were still available,” Coleman said. “Once I was able to do that, then I could narrow it down to see what fits what we were looking for and how we’re trying to build our program. I recruit character first. If you’re a high character kid, I can do a lot more with you because you’re accountable, you’re responsible, you’re mature. The basketball piece will take care of itself.”

Other newcomers include: Elena Alderman (Mount Desert Island), Keira Gilman (Waterville), Mia Henderson (Houlton), Paige Lafrenaye (Lincoln Academy), Emily Hagerty (Lawrence), Trea Broussard (Brewer), Chloe LaBree (Orono), Eva-Marie Stevens (Mt. Blue) and Jocelyn Jordan (Ellsworth).

Coleman took the job over from Emily Cummins, who went 41-134 over seven full seasons. Coleman went 3-3 as the University of Maine at Augusta men’s basketball coach during a shortened 2020-2021 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Coleman previously served as director of operations for the University of Maine men’s basketball team from 2018-2019.

Furthermore, Coleman has a history of success at the high school level, leading the Orono boys basketball team to three regional final appearances from 2011-2018. In 2019, Coleman was an assistant under Hermon girls basketball coach Chris Cameron. The Hawks went on to win the Class B North title.

“(The start of the season) is going well,” Coleman said. “The good news is, we have a lot of new faces, and they want to learn. They’re working hard, they’re asking questions. They want more, they ask for more, and so we’re giving them more, which is great early on.”

The Terriers are off to an 0-3 start, their latest setback a 56-48 decision to New England College on Sunday in Castleton, Vermont. Thomas next plays Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday in the Colby Tip-Off in Waterville.

Coleman knows there’s a lot of work ahead but is happy to get to work with his new team.

“They know and understand what’s at task here, trying to rebuild,” Coleman said. “The returners have been really good explaining how long the season is. It’s a good blend. But we’re extremely young… We might be one of the youngest four-year rosters in the country. But it’s exciting, because we’re going to be on a roller-coaster. We’ll have some highs; we’ll have some lows. We’ll plateau a little bit. I have to temper my own expectations a little bit. But I’m extremely pleased with where we’re at. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do, so zero complaints there.”

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The Southern Maine Community College women’s soccer team fell one shot shy of winning the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national championship on Monday afternoon in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Seawolves fell to the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science (ACPHS) in penalty kicks.

The SeaWolves carry seven central Maine high school players. Gardiner Area High School graduate Ammelia Lunt scored the lone goal for SMCC in the national title game Monday. Lunt scored the game’s first goal with an assist off a corner kick from teammate Mackenzie Farnham.

Julia Roemer scored the game-tying goal for ACPHS in the 60th minute, with the match eventually going to penalty kicks. Emma Russell scored the game-deciding kick for ACPHS.

SMCC finished 8-3-5. Sophomore and Waterville Senior High School graduate Paige St. Pierre was second on the team with six goals. Lunt was tied for fourth on the team with four.

Other central Maine SeaWolves include Paige Lord (MCI), Ryleigh Lord (Mount View), Desiree Veilleux (Winslow), Jordyn Condon (Nokomis) and Jordan Boone (Skowhegan).

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The Thomas College men’s basketball team was featured on a national stream last week, but the result was a tough one.

Thomas, a Division III program, lost to Division I Bryant University 147-39 in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The game was streamed nationally on ESPN+.

Bryant outscored Thomas 74-22 in the first half, then 73-17 in the second half.

Bryant head coach Jared Grasso explained why his team continued to push the score in the second half in an interview with Ian Steele of ABC6 of Providence, Rhode Island.

“I can’t change what we do and take a step backward,” Grasso said. “We have to keep getting better. That’s what I talked about at halftime. I don’t care about the score or who we’re playing. It’s about us being mature enough to be up by 50 points and show up and play the right way in the second half. I can’t tell them to hold the ball and worry about what the score is going to be. It’s not beneficial to our group, and right now, my job is to build this team.”

Thomas College head coach Marquis Mason-Pollard could not be reached for comment.

Guard Charles Pride scored a game-high 23 points for the Bulldogs. He also had 12 rebounds. Guard Parker Morrison did most of the scoring for Thomas, finishing with 20 points. Bryant finished 55 of 86 (64 percent) from the field.

It’s not unusual for a Division III team to play a DI team early in the season. Last season, the University of Maine men’s basketball team beat the University of Maine at Farmington 71-52 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The Black Bears beat the University of Maine at Fort Kent 90-45 on Nov. 11. Bryant was scheduled to play UMaine-Fort Kent on Monday, but the Bengals forfeited the game due to injuries.