BUCKFIELD – The trophies, the medals, the tournament programs all spark memories and conversation.

When you get Kathy Saarinen, Heidi Hamann, Melissa Reuter and Julie Eastman together, there’s a good chance they’ll discuss Buckfield basketball history – past and present. All four participated in the program’s early success and now watch as their daughters experience the same achievements.

“I can remember Ashlee at two years old dribbling a basketball,” said Hamann. “That’s all she ever wanted to do was play basketball. I think of Julie’s daughter, Erin. Since she’s been able to walk, she’s been dribbling a basketball. It’s a tradition. Every parent wants their kid to live their dreams. That’s what our kids are doing.”

Kathy Saarinen has two daughters on the team, Abby and Sami Jones. Melissa Reuter’s daughter, Amy, is one of only three seniors. Heidi’s daughter Ashlee was the Western D tournament’s most outstanding player, and junior Emily Eastman is the daughter of Coach Troy and Julie Eastman.

“I love it,” said Saarinen of watching her daughter’s live the same experiences. “I absolutely love it. To see them all out there, you just go, ‘I remember those days.’ They’re going to remember these days because I remember mine.”

This year, the Bucks produced the fifth perfect regular season in the program’s history. The girls have not only rekindled Buckfield’s rich basketball history but also brought excitement back to the girls’ team.

“It’s a feeling where you’re so proud of your kids,” said Hamann. “You see them out there doing something they love and have a passion for. To see them excel, and with this team especially, I love it.

“It used to be everybody would come to watch the boys. The whole town comes to watch the girls now. The community is supporting them 100 percent.”

After winning its first championship in 18 years, Buckfield girls’ basketball is the talk of the town again. With just three seniors and excitement that generates interest in the lower levels, Buckfield basketball is back in a big way.

“This used to be a basketball school and basketball town,” said Eastman. “It got lost along the way. When winning stops, that stops and the tradition stops. To bring it all back, it is exciting. It’s that feeling of belonging, loyalty and your alma mater.”

The Bucks were one of the dominant teams in Western Maine during girls’ basketball’s early days. Between 1975 and 1990, Buckfield claimed nine regional titles and two state titles. Saarinen, Hamann, Reuter and Eastman were all part of that success at one time or another.

“There’s a sense of pride,” said Saarinen, pointing to the regional championship trophies. “It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we did this. I was proud of this and proud of that.’ To have it be brought back is great.”

Back then, there were no three-point shots, no possession arrows and no basketball specifically designed for girls. The trophy of one of the regional championships Saarinen’s team won has a figure that appears to be wearing a cheerleader outfit. Saarinen has photos that prove that is not what they wore back then.

“We used to score huge scores,” said Saarinen. “We scored in the 70s. I thought we were supposed to be really dull basketball, but we were scoring in the 70s a lot.”

Saarinen was on the team from 1975 through 1978. She won two regional titles and graduated before the Bucks won the states in 1980. Hamann and Reuter were on that team.

“I had my jacket and Ashlee was like, ‘Oh my God, Mom, that’s old,'” said Hamann. “I said, ‘It’s almost 30 years old, what do you expect?'”

Eastman recalls the 1980 championship. It was a time that fueled her desire to participate in the program years later, something this year’s team is doing for future generations. She was on the team that won regional crowns in 1985 and 1986. Troy Eastman was part of regional championship teams on the boys’ side those years as well.

“When they won in 1980, it was an exciting time to be part of the school,” said Eastman. “You wanted to keep that tradition going. Winning breeds winning.”

Only two of the mothers won state championships, Reuter and Hamann, in 1980. The loss in the state game is still something that lingers.

“In 1976, you win in Western D and you think that’s fine, you don’t have to win the states,” said Saarinen. “Then you get to the state game, and you don’t want to lose. It does become something special. For me, I never won it. It’s still, to this day, kind of a hollow feeling because I never won that state ball.”

Reuter says, however, that winning the states didn’t define her experience nor will it her daughters. Amy Reuter was part of the team that won just four games her first year and has watched the program come full-circle.

“That’s not my No. 1 memory of basketball in high school,” said Reuter. “If it doesn’t happen (Saturday), it doesn’t happen. It would be icing on the cake if it did. That picture of Abby and Amy on the front page of the paper, that’s what it means to me. You can see the friendship and you can see the true joy in that little redhead’s face.”

They’re happy for their daughters, but they’re happy for the program as well. It is a history they’re all proud of and pleased to see revived by such a deserving group, even if their daughters don’t completely grasp the impact of their achievement.

“They’re a great group, and it’s an honor to be their parents,” said Reuter.