Nokomis’ Madden White (35) drives the lane against Skowhegan High School in Newport on Tuesday. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

NEWPORT — By this point, it should be plenty obvious: It’s a season of new roles for the Nokomis boys basketball players.

Between last year’s high school campaign and previous years in the middle school ranks, Cooper and Ace Flagg were always the centerpieces of Nokomis teams. With those players now gone, everything must change.

“Every one of them are in a different role than any team they’ve played on their whole life,” Nokomis head coach Earl Anderson said Tuesday following the team’s 49-45 overtime win against Skowhegan. “It’s very different, and they’re in the process of adjusting to it.”

Fortunately for Anderson’s Nokomis squad, Madden White is ready for his role. He’s going to be the Warriors’ playmaker this year, and as he showed in leading his team to a gritty victory Tuesday night, that’s a part the senior is plenty prepared to play.

White went on a rampage in overtime as he scored eight points to fuel Nokomis (2-0) to a hard-fought win. He followed an opening basket by Skowhegan’s Kyle LePage with two free throws before then answering two more River Hawks baskets with field goals of his own to keep the game tied.

White’s final basket of the game, a layup with roughly a minute left that made the score 47-45, put Nokomis ahead for good. It rounded out a 16-point effort for the senior, who was determined to take charge after the Warriors went without a single point in the fourth quarter.

Nokomis’ Madden White (35) drives to the basket as he is defended by Skowhegan’s Ryan Donoghue (20) in Newport on Tuesday. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

“We just had to put that behind us and find a way to pull it out,” said White, a 6-foot-3 forward. “We all have new roles this year, and for me, that’s the playmaker role. We were still in it, and I knew I needed to step up and make something happen so that we could get the win.”

Even with the Flaggs leading the way, White was a leading offensive threat for Nokomis last season. Defenders keying in on Cooper and Ace often freed up White to make big contributions, as he did in scoring 25 points in the quarterfinals against Messalonskee and pouring in 15 in the regional final against Brewer.

Now, White is the Nokomis player opposing teams have their sights set on stopping. Yet the Newport native has still been able to lead the Warriors offensively, scoring 17 points in the team’s preseason win over Mt. Desert Island and adding a game-high 19 in the season-opening victory over Bangor.

Yet if you look at what Nokomis did a year ago, it was defense, not offense, that powered the Warriors to their first-ever state championship. Nokomis is looking to keep that part of last season’s identity intact, and White, whose four rebounds and multiple steals Tuesday came at opportune times, is a key piece in achieving that goal.

Nokomis’ Madden White (35) drives to the basket against Skowhegan’s Adam Savage (34) on Tuesday in Newport Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

“That’s really the biggest part of our game,” White said of his team’s defense, which previously stifled Bangor 39-26 in addition to holding Skowhegan to just four points in the fourth quarter Tuesday. “We know we can always count on our defense. That was huge for us tonight; it kept us in the game.”

White, Anderson said, has improved his game significantly since Nokomis made its state title run last winter. Between time in the weight room and summer leagues and programs that weren’t available in the COVID-impacted 2020 or 2021, White has been able to take his biggest leap yet this offseason.

In addition to being a playmaker, White has taken on the role of leader, too. He’s been at the forefront of organizing team activities and workouts for Nokomis, something he did last week when inclement weather forced changes to the Warriors’ practice schedule.

“We couldn’t practice because it got postponed, but a bunch of them did work out on their own, and it was led by Madden,” Anderson said. “That’s just who he is; he’s a leader, and he works incredibly hard at his game.”