One of the main reasons the girls’ basketball team from Gray-New Gloucester reached the regional final again last year was because of its defensive play.

If Harvey Moynihan has anything to do with it, that will be the reason for the Patriots getting there again.

The former G-NG and NYA boys’ coach knew the Gray-New Gloucester girls’ didn’t need a whole lot of help this year with much of the team back. Still, Moynihan jumped aboard hoping he could add just enough to keep the Patriots in the Western B title hunt.

“There isn’t a lot that need to be done,” said Moynihan about a team that has been to the regional final three straight years and been in the state game twice. “It’s a matter of contributing what I can to be successful.”

Moynihan joins the G-NG coaching staff this year after an extended career at North Yarmouth Academy and a year as an assistant with the G-NG boys’ team last year.

He joins coach Ken Butler and new junior varsity coach Jay Wilkins, the former Lisbon girls’ coach.

“After I knew Robbie Morin wasn’t coming back, that was a fun team. I really thought we were turning the corner here,” said Moynihan of the boys’ team at G-NG. “When he didn’t come back, I was kind of available. We talked and I said what I’d be willing to do.”

The Patriots have five senior starters back from a team that lost to Greely in the regional final last February. Having become acquainted with Butler over the last few seasons, it was a natural progression to step into the girls’ assistants job.

“I know Ken,” said Moynihan, who teaches Social Studies at G-NG. “I knew we’d be compatible. He’d been here for three or four years. So we’d talked a lot. It was just a matter of lining up a philosophy.”

One of the aspects that Moynihan felt he could help the Patriots was defense. With the graduation of Katie Whittier, the Patriots had to rely on its defensive game last season.

That was crucial in beating Wells in the semifinal and gave them a chance against the Rangers in the final.

Trying to solve the offensive woes that plagued them at times last year is still a priority this season. Meanwhile, making sure the defensive game was bolstered only helped that cause.

The Patriots used a combination of man-to-man and a matchup zone defense last year. Moynihan has been deploying strictly man-to-man defense and the early signs are that the Patriots are succeeding. G-NG has won both games, beating Yarmouth and Wells, both playoff contenders last year.

“I believe if you’re going to play man-to-man, you’ve got to live and die with it,” he said. “You’ve got to work at it. They’ve been convinced that they can do well because of the preseason. That can sustain a team if you don’t have a good offensive game.”

G-NG did well against a number of Class A clubs in the preseason. Though the offense struggled at times in the season opener against Yarmouth, the defense rose to the occasion in the final quarter. The Patriots erased a six-point deficit and rallied with an 18-2 run down the stretch to stun the Clippers.

“I thought our defense really fueled our offense,” said Moynihan. “That’s what we’re really trying to sell to them That you can win games with defense.”

Offensively, Moynihan works mostly with the post players and will have his club working on improving their rebounding this week. Butler works primarily with the perimeter players. Moynihan also gives the team a coach in the school, a luxury Butler hasn’t had before while at G-NG. Moynihan can get messages to players and keep tabs on grades.

It makes for a nice meeting of the minds at G-NG.

“The mixture of knowledge he brings our defensive game is really working well,” said Butler. “He’s made a big difference.”

Moynihan won a Gold Ball as a player at Greely and coached the Gray boys for 15 years, including a state title in 1976 and a regional final loss in 1975. He coached for 14 years at NYA, earning two trips to the regional final where the Panthers lost to Valley.

Moynihan didn’t like the responsibility of running a program from top to bottom anymore. So being an assistant is a nice change of pace.

“I don’t mind it at all,” he said. “My wife didn’t think I could do it. You kind of step back and watch. I like it. I’ve been at it for a while.”

There are aspects he does miss but others that he doesn’t.

“Let’s put it this way, this meets my needs,” he said. “I’ve won a lot of games as a coach. I’m just enjoying the reduced role.”