Each year, they’ve gotten closer and closer.

Grooming a very young and inexperienced team, Doug Lisherness knew the year would come in which his Mt. Abram girls would go from a young, up-and-coming team to a club that has arrived.

After missing the playoffs for two  straight years, the Roadrunners are back in the tourney hunt.

Lisherness says his team is still getting seasoned and that the best may be to come.

“I’ve got to jump back to 2007,” Lisherness said, recalling when the Roadrunners came from the fifth spot to win the Class C state title. “We were playing awful at the beginning of the year. We beat Madison the 12th or 13th game that year, and we never lost another game.”

His Mt. Abram team is more experienced and competitive, but that has brought about new growing pains. The Roadrunners now go into each game knowing that wins and Heal Points are crucial. That’s a pressure the team hasn’t faced in recent years.

Last year the club went 6-12. That was after a 1-17 season in 2010.

So as much as he’s been grooming skills, Lisherness has also tried to work with his team’s mental approach.

“The mental part of playing is a big part of the game,” he said. “I’ve talked to the girls more this year than I ever have about that mental toughness.”

At 5-4, the Roadrunners are seventh in Western C. Mt. Abram has a handful of winnable games the rest of the way but also have valuable opportunities against teams like Hall-Dale, Mountain Valley (twice), Dirigo, Spruce Mountain and Madison.

If the Roadrunners, with just one senior,  can continue to improve and gain confidence, Mt. Abram could be a tough team at tournament time.

“It’s the last four or five games when you’ve got to be playing great ball,” said Lisherness.

For the Roadrunners, it is a different position after being out of the playoff chase for two seasons.

“It’s definitely very exciting,” said junior center Miranda Smith. “It makes us want to play a lot harder. Just thinking about going to the tournament makes us come out with more intensity and makes us want to show people we can do it.”

The Roadrunners know they’ve been working toward a season like this for a couple years and know there’s still potential to be reached.

“It’s definitely pretty fun,” said Smith. “It makes us all proud that we came being so young and inexperienced to actually being able to win games.”

Defensive posture

With just two wins, the St. Dom’s girls are still in the playoff field in Western C. The Saints have victories over Monmouth and Carrabec and are in 10th. A key component for the Saints has been their defense.

“Our defense has been what’s kept us in the games against the good teams, for at least a half,” said St. Dom’s coach Jon Berry. “Even with Hall-Dale, Madison and Spruce Mountain, we were either ahead or within three points in every single game that we’ve played.”

The young Saints have averaged just 39.4 points against this season, but St. Dom’s has averaged just 29.7 on the offensive end. St. Dom’s graduated four starters and only has guard Mary Caron back with significant varsity time.

“Offensively, we just need to improve,” said Berry. “We still have a young group of kids that are still improving, but overall I’m really happy with their effort.”