SCARBOROUGH — “Here, this is our itinerary for Saturday’s game. Take it with you.”

Without further thought the single sheet of paper was folded and stuck in a reporter’s notebook. I left Tom Maines’ office.

Only later did I glance at Maines’ timetable for his Scarborough High girls’ basketball team, noting their arrival time at the Cumberland County Civic Center for the Western Maine championship game against McAuley. The time for sitting in the grandstands getting mentally ready to play the one team to beat them this season.

The time for taping. The time for introductions. The time for tipoff. My eyes skipped from one housekeeping item to the next, stopping at this:

8:30 — Shake hands with the losers.

8:32 — Cut the nets down.

The Scarborough girls lost twice for every one game they won last season. They didn’t make the postseason tournament. Their head coach moved on. Only four players from that team are back.

When Tom and Rita Maines were named Scarborough’s husband-wife coaching tandem last fall, the to-do list was already in the works. A top priority? Get Scarborough’s players to believe in themselves and trust each other. See themselves as winners. It’s the stuff of any successful team. If you aren’t there, you better get there.

Which is why Maines turned so emotional after Scarborough came from behind to beat Cheverus in the quarterfinals. In Wednesday’s semifinals, the Marshwood players and their fans sensed a big win and a trip to the Western Maine final. Instead, Scarborough rolled back a 10-point deficit in the second half and won, 46-43.

Maines’ players didn’t stop trusting themselves or their coaches. In the corridor outside the winning locker room, Maines glowed. He got his first head coaching job in the 1970s. His four-decade career includes three consecutive state title seasons at Morse High 25 years ago, but was interrupted and he was bored. So he came off the shelf to take this job, his first coaching girls.

When word spread last fall that Maines was coaching again, a betting pool supposedly started. Would his time at Scarborough last weeks, months or years? His intensity always burned hot, sometimes singeing those around him. He demands a lot from his players. He challenges them. Wednesday, Maines did exactly that to freshman guard Ashley Briggs, who was in a scoring funk for six quarters in the playoffs.

Instead of pouting or withdrawing, she trusted her game and her coach. When Maines put the ball back in her hands Wednesday night, she scored. She had something to prove.

Two girls did walk away from the Scarborough program this year. The others bought into Maines’ philosophy. Hey, this old-school coach doesn’t permit talking on the bus ride to away games, and checks their smart phones and music at the door.

“We sit together, we win together, we lose together,” said Maines. “We’re all in. I don’t want any finger-pointing.”

His wife gets them together to tie-dye T-shirts or share in the giant whoopee pies she brings to practice. The players call her Coach O for O’Connor, her maiden name. The team made a Christmas card to give to Coach Maines and Coach O and Mike Jeffords, the second assistant. The card is still taped to the office door.

McAuley has earned its swagger. It won the Class A state title last winter. Alexa Coloumbe will take her 6-foot-2 game to Boston College after graduation. Some of her teammates are on the wish lists of other college coaches. McAuley beat Scarborough by 12 points during the season.

Maines, of course, believes in his players. The coach who conducts clinics on pressing defenses had two days of practice to prepare for Saturday. The team that went 6-12 a year ago and didn’t make the playoffs will take its best shot.

“I’ve told them I don’t need any more career goals,” said Maines, 65. “I don’t need to hold the gold ball over my head. That’s for them to experience.”

11:30 — Home-curfew-enjoy win but get ready for final week of practice on Monday.

Imagining is the first step to believing.

Staff columnist Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:
ssolloway@pressherald.com
Twitter: SteveSollowayPPH