WINTHROP – Ray Convery was coaching basketball at Winthrop before Tyler Hunt was born. Now, they’ve both been hired to start new eras in Winthrop’s girls’ and boys’ basketball programs.

Convery, 59, is returning to the girls’ program he coached to a Class C state title in 1990. Hunt, 23 and the son of current Cony boys’ varsity coach Bruce Hunt, is stepping into his first varsity basketball head coaching job.

Convery replaces Glen Chase, who resigned after two years, including a 4-14 record last season. In his previous stint, Convery coached the Ramblers to 22 tournament appearances in 23 years. He stepped down as head coach five years ago, then stayed on one year as an assistant coach. He spent three years as an assistant for the Monmouth girls’ varsity.

“I still teach here, and I just figured I’d like to try it again,” said Convery, who is a physical education instructor at Winthrop Middle School. “Some of these girls will now be playing for their third coach in four years, and I’d like to make it a little more stable environment for them.”

Convery, 59, said he likely will retire from teaching next year but hopes to keep coaching to maintain some much-needed continuity for the program.

“Glen Chase left me a lot of good parts to the puzzle, and I thank him for that. It’s just a matter of getting those parts to all fit together,” he added.

Hitting the ground running in summer basketball will be vital to getting those pieces to mesh, he said.

“This summer is very important,” he said. “It’s especially important for those poor kids that are having to learn something new from a new coach again.”

Hunt, a 2004 Cony graduate, works in the Monmouth schools system and is in his first year as varsity boys’ tennis coach at Monmouth Academy. He was an assistant on his father’s basketball staff at Cony last year.

He replaces Dennis Dacus, who resigned after coaching Winthrop’s 2008 Class C state championship squad.

Even though the Ramblers will lose four starters, including Mr. Basketball finalist Sam Leclerc, to graduation, Hunt said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure taking over a program that has won three Western Maine championships in the last six years.

“It’s already been a successful program, and I’m just looking to build on that success,” he said. “I would like to think the town is looking for a positive role model who cooperates with not only the teachers and the administration but the community.” Hunt’s basketball philosophy is similar to the up-tempo, pressure defense style Winthrop used to win the Gold Ball.

“I do plan on building a program and putting my own stamp on it, not only at the freshman, JV and varsity levels, but from the middle school and youth levels up,” he said.