The Boston Blitz Is Almost Here!

To start off the New Year, coaches and admissions counselors will be traveling around Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine to meet with high school students interested in a year at Bridgton Academy. If you are would like to set up a meeting, call or email a coach today!

Here is the list of head coaches with phone numbers and email addresses:

Lacrosse- Garrett Bamann, 207-647-3322 ext. 211, gbamann@bridgtonacademy.org

Hockey- Jon Lounsbury, 207-647-3322 ext. 232, jlounsbury@bridgtonacademy.org

Baseball- Aaron Izaryk, 207-647-3322 ext. 236, aizaryk@bridgtonacademy.org

Football- Rick Marcella, 207-647-3322 ext. 235, marcella@bridgtonacademy.org

Basketball- Whit Lesure, 207-647-3322 ext. 233, wlesure@bridgtonacademy.org

Soccer- Alan Ashenfelter, 207-647-3322 ext. 231, aashenfelter@bridgtonacademy.org

Admissions Counselors in Mass and Maine!

On January 4-6 the admissions office will have various counselors and coaches around Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine. They will be visiting various schools over the few days to talk with any students who are interested in a year at BA.

Coach Lesure will be visiting Acton Boxboro, Westford Academy, Concord, Lincold-Sudbury, Waltham, Bedford, Wayland, Newton South, and Boston Latin. Meanwhile Coach Atwood will be in ME visiting Scarboro, Gorham, Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Greely, South Portland, Windham, Deering, and Westbrook. If you or someone you might know is interested in meeting with a coach, you can contact Coach Lesure via email at wlesure@bridgtonacademy.org or by phone at 207-647-3322 x233.

WOLVERINES OUTLAST LEE ACADEMY 76-60

Cory Spence (Baltimore, MD) fueled a 16-2 explosion out of the gate for Bridgton Academy as the Wolverines erased the disappointment of the night before and held off a competitive Lee Academy squad 76-60 on Sunday afternoon. The Wolverines had trouble putting the Panda’s of Lee away for good as the hosts missed many easy opportunities around the bucket and were sloppy with the ball in the second half. Spence led Bridgton Academy all afternoon with a 17 points and Aleks Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) continued his fine play with a game high 18 points for the afternoon. Texas A&M recruit Keith Coleman led the visitors with 12. Bridgton coach Whit Lesure complimented Spence’s play specifically following the game. “I am glad he was on our side today. He stood out in the gym with his readiness to compete. College bound players have to learn how to play hard every day and I thought he set the best example for us in putting the last 24 hours behind,” Lesure commented.

Lee had beaten Bridgton in the two previous meetings a year ago and continues to field a highly competitive team with the best in New England. The state of Maine has three quality teams at the highest level reflective of the growing prep landscape in New England that once was dominated by a small group of a few schools.

BA Drops Tough Game to South Kent 95-83

The visiting South Kent Cardinal roared back from a 12 point halftime deficit to spoil a game Wolverine effort 95-83 on Saturday afternoon. BA jumped out early to a 9-0 lead and remained in control of much of the first half settling for a 35-23 lead at the break. Aleks Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) led a solid attack on both ends of the floor with ten points and several defensive steals. South Kent cut the Bridgton lead to five at 67-62 with ten minutes remaining and the two teams were tied with five minutes remaining.

South Kent utilized a balanced inside-outside offense to secure the victory in the final minutes. Coach Lesure saw some good and bad play in his comments following the contest. “The first half was indicative of how our team is capable of playing, a lot like we played against MCI the other night”, Lesure said. “I must have had a brain-cramp at halftime, because the only team making positive adjustments in the second half was our opponent. I did not do our players any favors in the second half”, Lesure finished. The loss will not be counted in NEPSAC AAA league standings as new guidelines calculate the divisional rankings.

BA faces Lee Academy (ME) in a quick turn-around game Sunday afternoon in North Bridgton to conclude the first semester schedule of play. Bridgton Academy returns to action January 15^th vs. New Hampton in a Saturday evening contest.

BA Bounces Back 74-64 Over MCI

Bridgton Academy played with visible passion and urgency on the defensive end of the court and rode the team effort to their first league win of the young season. The two in-state rivals played an even first half with the Wolverines earning a 29-23 over MCI advantage at the break. Kareem Canty and Donnie Hale led the first half offensive attack as they would all evening with ten points a piece. In the second half Bridgton Academy continued to play a solid game at both ends of the floor and built a twenty point lead before the visitors mounted a rally in the late stages of the game that came up short. Canty finished with a game high twenty-six points and Hale added twenty-three of his own, with guard Cory Spence contributing fourteen second half points. Coach Lesure was emphatic about the team’s play at the defensive end of the floor and the overall chemistry that was on display for much of the basketball game. “ I thought we established a good posture in the first ten minutes with our effort. After that, we received some terrific contributions off the bench and did not skip a beat on either end of the floor”, Lesure said. The victory raises the Wolverine record to 5-2 on the season, and 1-0 in NEPSAC AAA league play.

On another note, Shavar Bernier BA '06 and standout captain at Conn College was in attendance in his new role as assistant coach at St. Michaels College

Photos on Facebook

Check out pictures of the teams last second win over NIA Prep on Bridgton Academy's facebook page.

Wolverines Lose 74-67 at Marianapolis Prep

Bridgton Academy traveled to the nutmeg state (CT) to participate in the Hoop Mountain Classic and lost to host Marianapolis Prep Sunday afternoon. The Wolverines fell behind early and never caught up in the first half trailing 42-26 at intermission. In the second half the visitors competed better, threatening to make it a close game in the final minutes, but were not able to find enough answers to the execution problems that plagued their play throughout the afternoon.

Coach Lesure was complimentary of the effort put in by the host school of this event saying, “we certainly were not looking past this one, and quite the opposite, felt like we were going to have to play awfully well to pull it out on the road against a school with a great tradition. They were good in my estimation, and we were not. I think sometimes early in the season you learn more in a loss, so in that sense, while I am not happy, I think our team should be looking straight ahead as we take our lumps from this”.

Bridgton Academy (4-2) hosts MCI on Wednesday evening at 6:00 P.M. in a NEPSAC AAA league contest.

Wolverines Win In Final Second

Kareem Canty (New York, NY) found Aleks Dobrovic (Prodgorica, Montenegro) alone directly in front of the rim with less than a second remaining in the contest to cap a dramatic late game rally giving Bridgton Academy a hard earned 82-81 victory over NIA Prep (NJ) Thursday evening at the Wolverdome. BA trailed for much of the second half, falling behind by as many as eleven, before a Corey Spence (Baltimore, MD) three point bucket ignited the emotional comeback with less than five minutes to play. Earlier in the first half the home Wolverines led by as many as nine before a NIA run gave the visitors a 37-36 halftime advantage. Donnie Hale (New Albany, IN) paced the offense for Bridgton Academy with a game high 29 points, including nineteen in the critical stages of the second half. Canty added 20 with Daniel Franca (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Spence contributing 10 each. U-Cincinnati bound forward Shaquille Thomas led the visitors with 28 points.

Coach Lesure spoke about the resilient effort of the team following the game saying, “I told the guys that I had been watching the Jimmy V. Foundation speech last night, and that the signature line was don’t ever give up.” Lesure added, “my father passed away from cancer at a young age and I just learned that a good friend has it, so for our guys to compete to the end like that against a quality team and for our students to react so positively gave it extra meaning for me. From a basketball perspective, we did a good enough job maintaining a pace we like for stretches, but I expect that we will improve some too,” Lesure closed.

The victory raises the Bridgton Academy record to 4-1 for the season. BA travels to Mariannapolis Prep (CT) Sunday afternoon to play the host school in the Hoop Mountain Classic that will feature many of the best prep teams in the Northeast. It will be the first meeting between Mariannapolis and Bridgton Academy.