Lady Seahawks open the regular season Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. in Carrabec.

Since the day Boothbay was knocked out of the Western Conference semi-finals last February, the Lady Seahawks have been hard at work, revving up for the road to victory.

The Lady Seahawks (12-6 last season) have returned three starters, Sarah Caron, Allison Crocker, and Alex Clarke, who make up the core of the team's tri-captain leadership.

Backed by a versatile supporting cast of physically imposing “bigs,” and pesky guards, the team features an equal mix of underclassmen who are eager to play their part.    

Tanner Grover, the team's new coach, said the Lady Seahawks are known around the league for their size, but that many teams underestimate Boothbay's quickness. One of the things that sets his team apart from their opponents is each individual's talent, he said.

“We're a really unique team... based on the match-up on any given night, we could have someone new going off for 20 points.” But Grover said achieving success is going to be dependent on how well his team acclimates to the new system.

“At this stage where I'm putting in so much new material, I'm trying to expose us to a lot of new things,” Grover said. “I figure let's implement everything so we have it, and we will fine tune as the year goes on.”

Grover said he plans to run an equal opportunity offense that maximizes spacing and player movement, while employing multiple defenses that will help dictate the pace of the game.  

Among other standout players, the Seahawks returned junior Abby McLellan, and sophomore Morgan Crocker. McLellan is arguably the most versatile player on the team, Grover said. “She's incredibly aggressive and provides us with a certain amount of energy that takes us to a whole new level of intensity.”

Grover said he looks for Morgan to break out as one of the biggest surprises in the Mountain Valley Conference, especially as an offensive player. “There's no stopping her. She's talented and fierce.  She's a natural athlete.”

According to Grover, the toughest teams from the MVC conference will likely be Madison and Mt. Abram. Mt. Abram returned every player from last season, and they have the size to compete with Boothbay. Grover said what Madison doesn't have in size, they make up for it in quickness.

Grover predicted this season will be a two-horse race between Boothbay and Madison in their conference, and in Class C, Waynflete will once again pose a threat. Waynflete, who ended Boothbay's postseason run last year, returned all their players this season.  

Between the countless summer leagues, pickup games and nightly practices, the Lady Seahawks, have built a reputation as a highly dedicated team. Grover said, “I just want to look back (at the season's end) and be able to say we never cut any corners, and we gave it our all, day in and day out, and with a little luck we'll have a banner on the wall and hardware in the trophy case.”

A man of basketball

Following Dan Wolotsky's departure, Grover was hired as head coach of the girls varsity basketball team. Grover, who has spent his fair-share assisting the Seahawks from the sidelines, said, “It's an honor, and I know that expectations are pretty high, but no one's expectations are higher than my own.”

Grover also was one of the assistant coaches for I.J. Pinkham when the boys varsity team brought home the gold ball in 2001. Needless to say, winning records are nothing new to Grover.

Grover's father Merritt said looking through Tanner's notes at practice is like flipping through the Celtics' playbook, “He means business.”

In the offseason Grover said he reads basketball books and coaching manuals, in between watching pickup games at the Y, and hosting summer clinics. “I think they're on the upswing,” he said. “Now that there is a junior high, this is the start of a growing program,” he said.   

During the regular season, when Grover's not running a practice or coaching, he's traveling throughout state attending other high school games, meticulously studying other teams, memorizing their rosters and analyzing match-ups.

This year Grover said he is pumped to be coaching girls varsity. “There is an awful a lot to be excited about, and no one's going to want to miss what we have to bring to the court this season.”

When asked if he had anything else to say about his team, Grover smiled and said, “Yeah. They're great.”

Ryan Leighton can reached at 207-633-4620 and rleighton@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterRyan.