Fort Fairfield Girls Basketball

The now five and O Fort Fairfield Tigers girls basketball team is transitioning from having seven senior ballers last season to zero this year. The burden of leadership falls upon three juniors.

"All of us were really close with out seniors, so I think we're just going to miss their support and having them there all the time," Cammi King-Demerchant said.

Even though they're gone, the lessons they taught remain, all three captains, Kammi King-Demerchant, Amber Sherwood and Riley Clough all expressed the same sentiment.

"Always support your teammates and always bring them up when they're down," Demerchant said.

"To pick up the team when they fall, to support the team, to help the team out if anyone is having a problem," Sherwood said.

"To always give your players support, no matter what," Clough said.

The captains and players have brought the can-do attitude for coach Larry Gardner, who says the team also adds a little something extra compared to last year's team.

"Typically, you'd like to have seniors to be a strength," Gardner said. "We're young, the kids want to play, we're more athletic this year than last, but we just need to gain that experience."

Experience is gained through learning, practicing, and playing. Clough is six foot three. You can't teach height. But she says she still has plenty of work to do.

"We always have room to improve, so I would say for me, keeping my hands up and probably getting rebounds and blocking shots," Clough said.

It's not just Riley coach Gardner wants to see hit the boards.

"We're not that big, Riley is six three, but everybody else is five-five, five-sixes generally," Gardner said. "We're physically not that strong yet inside, so rebounding is the key factor."

As for the goals on the year, the captains are all on the same page.

"Our mission on the paper that he gives us, is always going to be, "get to Bangor,'" Clough said.

"Make far in tourney, because that's been our goal for the last two years so I would be really happy if we accomplished that," Demerchant said

"Making it to finals, mostly, I'm really hoping we can do that," Sherwood said.

The Tigers put their undefeated record on the line Thursday against the Washburn Beavers.