When the opportunity came to become varsity basketball coach at Old Town High School, Tim Thornton was ready.

Thornton, of Lincoln, has been involved with Eastern Maine high school basketball for many years. He was the girls varsity coach at Hermon from 1988-95, with the Hawks winning the state Class B title in his first year there. Then he took a break.

“But I don’t do much in the winter except clean the yard. I liked being in the gym, so I got back into coaching again,” said Thornton.

He then went on the become the girls’ varstiy coach at Brewer from 1999-2002, and, after another break, started working with the boys basketball program, serving as JV and assistant varsity coach at Brewer under Mark Reed, Clayton Bood and Ben Goodwin. After a time, though, Thornton decided he wanted to be a varsity coach again.

“I decided it was time to do it again. My kids are raised, and my wife, Ann was very supportive of the idea,” said Thornton. “I liked what saw and heard, and it seemed like a great opportunity.

“Brian (McDormand, the former OTHS coach who retired this year after 25 years of coaching) left some big shoes to fill, but I’m excited for the season to start.

The passion to coach will mean some long days for Thornton; he will be driving from Lincoln to Brewer to teach for the upcoming season, then heading to Old Town for practices and games. He’s already getting into the groove, though, having held clinics in Old Town since the beginning of June.

“This is keeping me invigorated mentally and physically. It’s good to have a reason to get up in the morning,” said Thornton. “The reception have been fantastic; we’ve had been 28 and 35 showing up at the high school level for the clinics and about 25 at the younger levels. I’m enjoying this already and looking forward to having a fun season with the kids.”