Hall-Dale’s KJ Greenhalgh (12) takes a shot during a central Maine tournament game against Kents Hill on Friday in Farmingdale. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal

Sixty four.

Up until last week, that was the number of practices the Kents Hill girls basketball team had run during the winter sports season. Not normal practices, mind you. Not during the coronavirus pandemic. Shootarounds. Some small group work, doing what they could while abiding by COVID-19 safety measures.

“The first half of those practices were no contact,” Kents Hill head coach R.J. Jenkins said. “Just some three-on-three, two-on-two, shooting drills, dribbling drills. That first half of the year was even tougher.”

The pandemic has impacted high school sports across the board. Some, like tackle football, were simply not offered. Others, like basketball, were offered with several restrictions, including: An abbreviated schedule against regional competition, and no postseason tournament sanctioned by the Maine Principals’ Association.

Many basketball teams did what they could, scheduling up to 12 games. At no point during those 64 practices did it appear the Huskies would receive an opportunity to play a game.

And then the central Maine basketball tournament was born.

Kents Hill received an opportunity to participate in the tournament, despite having no regular season.

“It was like Christmas morning when we told them we had a game,” Jenkins said.

The Huskies would enter the Class C/D girls tournament as the No. 8 and final seed. They drew top-seed Hall-Dale in the quarterfinals. Furthermore, Kents Hill would play the game with just six healthy players, because a few players were away on school break. To make matters worse, Jarni Hewins, one of the Huskies’ top players, was injured and didn’t play.

The Bulldogs were simply too much, and they pulled out a 65-42 victory.

Kents Hill’s first game of the season also proved to be its last.  Of course, none of that mattered. The Huskies just wanted to play a game — and that’s just what they got.

“The school was on break, so (the team) gave up an extra week and really wanted to play,” Jenkins said. “All week, it was just ‘Yup, we know there’s only six (players), Coach. But we’re just ready to go. We want to play, we want to fight, even if we’re not 100 percent.

The game started as one would expect a seasoned top seed against a team without any game experience. Hall-Dale opened the game on a 14-0 run in the first six minutes. It led 18-2 after the first quarter. Kents Hill stayed competitive the rest of the way, a testament to its resiliency. Rose Jenkins scored 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Huskies. Josie Harper-Cunningham added nine points. The team was able to bury five 3-pointers.

Hall-Dale’s Hayden Madore goes up for a layup as Rose Jenkins (12) and Alanna Bachelder (20) try to defend during a game Friday in Farmingdale. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal

“For us to battle back and make (the margin) 10, 12 (points), whatever it was, I was super proud of them,” Coach Jenkins said. “We play a preseason tournament at home every year. This was our preseason. So, for us to come up with the intestinal fortitude to fight through all of that and battle back and make it interesting for a little while, I’m super proud of these girls.”

The Bulldogs would walk away with the victory. The Huskies would walk away with Hall-Dale’s respect.

“That was a gutsy, gutsy Kents Hill team,” Hall-Dale coach Jarod Richmond said after the game. “Hats off to them. They played hard and played with guts.”

Of course, there was disappointment on the Kents Hill bench after the game. But no heads hung low. The Huskies were appreciative of the opportunity, and proud of the effort of competing with the top seed in the tournament.

“They’re happy,” Coach Jenkins said. “They’re really happy to have this chance, with gracious hosts, we’re really happy to be here. We’re really glad it got to be (live-streamed) so the parents could see. We’re ecstatic. Hopefully, next year it’ll be a little different and we’ll get to play a full season.”

For Kents Hill, the game itself was the victory.