Coaching the Portland High girls\u2019 basketball team \u2013 or any high school team \u2013 was probably the last thing Gerry Corcoran thought he would be doing in 2017.
Yet here he is, again standing on the sidelines and coaching the game he loves.
Corcoran became the Portland High girls\u2019 coach on Dec. 27, just days after Jay Lowery resigned unexpectedly on Dec. 23. Lowery was in his third year as the Bulldogs\u2019 coach and the team was off to an 0-5 start after winning only two games last season.
Athletic Director Rob O\u2019Leary is simply glad that Corcoran \u2013 who played at Northeastern University, then professionally in Europe and South America before embarking on a winding coaching odyssey \u2013 was around and willing to take the position.
\u201cHe knows the game of basketball, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d said O\u2019Leary. \u201cI love that we have someone like that with us. It was a blessing that he was around.\u201d
The 53-year-old Corcoran, a native of Hingham, Massachusetts, and his family moved to Maine in 2011 and have lived in South Portland since 2013. He\u2019s pleased with the progress even though the Bulldogs have lost three more games.
\u201cThe girls are making me a better coach already,\u201d said Corcoran. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have some fun.\u201d
He started his coaching career as an assistant at Connecticut under Jim Calhoun, whom he played for at Northeastern, then coached at several high schools and colleges in Massachusetts over the years. In 2007 he coached the Cape Cod Frenzy of the professional American Basketball Association for 10 games (also taking over midway through the season). When that team moved, he decided to turn his attention to his young and growing family.
So coaching took a back seat to other jobs. He had been a counselor at a correctional facility in Dedham, Massachusetts, speaking to inmates about drug and alcohol abuse. He now works at Opportunity Alliance, an community outreach program based in South Portland.
The past few years, Corcoran coached some youth AAU basketball teams but didn\u2019t coach in the winter so he could watch his son, Connor, play hockey.
He had been introduced to O\u2019Leary \u2013 like Corcoran, from Massachusetts \u2013 and the two met in December to discuss Portland\u2019s struggling girls\u2019 team. A couple of days later, Lowery asked if Corcoran would attend a practice. He did and began making plans to help some more.
\u201cI don\u2019t know what happened,\u201d Corcoran said. \u201cI got a call that Jay had resigned and they asked if I wanted to coach.\u201d
Corcoran needed to make sure he could fit coaching full-time back into his life. Once he did, he was ready to go. He was finally approved for the position just hours before his first game, a 50-37 loss to Sanford.
Although the Bulldogs remain winless, Corcoran sees improvements. \u201cTheir learning curve is amazing,\u201d he said of the players.
As a disciple of Calhoun, Corcoran is a proponent of multiple defenses \u2013 \u201ckill them with confusion,\u201d he said \u2013 and a fast-paced offense. He said the Bulldogs eventually will run set plays but \u201cthe best offense is that you go and don\u2019t let the defense get its feet set. I want the girls to have some fun and score.\u201d
He\u2019s been especially impressed with senior guard Taylor Sargent, senior forward Kate Johnson, junior forward Shayla Eubanks and sophomore point guard Nettie Walsh.
This is the first time he\u2019s coached a girls\u2019 team.
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved the girls\u2019 game and I\u2019ve always known this,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a purity to the game. It\u2019s not played above the rim. It\u2019s about fundamentals and shooting.\u201d
The Red Eddies showed why just before Christmas when they beat all three Portland teams in succession: winning at Deering 62-54, topping Cheverus 71-51, then shooting down defending champ Portland, 76-70.
Edward Little is 7-0. A year ago it started the season 1-6.
\u201cWe\u2019re good. No question about it and we\u2019re good because they\u2019ve worked really hard,\u201d said Coach Mike Adams, now in his 16th year. \u201cBut we also know it\u2019s just (through) Game 7 for us. We have to keep getting better. Those teams, they\u2019re superior to us athletically.\u201d
Edward Little returns Jarod Norcross- Plourde, a senior guard who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds last season. This year more players are contributing. Darby Shea (six first-half 3s against Portland), guard Samatar Iman, and sophomore 6-foot-4 forward Wol Maiwen, the first man off the bench, have provided consistent scoring. Junior point guard Tyler Morin is a returning starter, and senior C. J. Jipson adds energy, defense and superior passing. With improved balance and experience, Edward Little has shown it can play multiple styles successfully.
The Eddies have two games left against teams currently with winning records (at Windham and at Oxford Hills). Going 18-0 is a real possibility. Adams said he\u2019s heard and read others proclaiming his team as the best in the state. Now it\u2019s his turn to offer a word or two of caution.
\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anyone who knows better than Edward Little how hard it is to win a state championship,\u201d Adams said.
Edward Little\u2019s last state title came in 1946. Adams coached his team to consecutive regional championships in 2009 and \u201910 but lost in both state finals: to Thornton Academy 54-52, and then Cheverus, 55-50. Cheverus was stripped of its 2010 title 31 months later for using an ineligible player.
\u201cThe boys deserve the recognition for what they\u2019ve done so far but we know we have to keep improving,\u201d Adams said.
After Tuesday\u2019s 46-40 loss to unbeaten Scarborough, Coach Lynne Hasson said the team has to play with more intensity. The score was 26-26 entering the fourth quarter.
\u201cI guess we have to go back to the drawing board,\u201d she said. \u201cI talked to the kids about the fact that everyone might think we have one of the top teams around but we really have got to do it on the floor. It doesn\u2019t matter what your reputation is or what your uniform says, you\u2019ve got to come to play every night. There\u2019s a lot of teams in this league that are competitive and if you don\u2019t come to play, you\u2019re going to be in trouble.\u201d
Certainly she gave Scarborough plenty of credit for the victory.
\u201cI figured they\u2019d be a good team all along,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got some good players and they\u2019re competitive.\u201d
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