WALES – After one of the program’s most successful seasons in recent years, Dan Sabine has stepped down as the Oak Hill girls’ basketball coach.

The Raiders went 10-8 this winter and narrowly missed a playoff berth in the tough Western B field. Sabine cited personal reasons for his resignation. He said it was what he felt was for the good of the program’s future.

“I just want to make sure it doesn’t come across that I was forced out by (athletic director) Bill (Fairchild) or anyone else,” he said. “I’d really like to transition into a new coach positively.”

Sabine coached the Raiders for four seasons. The club went from 1-17 his first year to last year’s 10-win campaign. It was the best record for Oak Hill since the team went 11-6 in 1995.

Between working in Portland, for Unum, and having three daughters, one of which is still on the varsity, Sabine said he felt this would be a good time to step aside. Emily is now in college. Maggie is a sophomore while Grace is 10 years old.

He declined to comment about his decision but wanted to emphasize that it was his choice. With the program in a good position, he felt it was a good opportunity for someone else and the right time for him.

“It was a decision that we made that we thought would be best for the girls, and we knew there were some good quality candidates out there,” he said. “That’s why we decided to do what we did.”

Fairchild has had to hire a new football coach and fill both varsity basketball jobs this year. While the change in a football coach created some controversy, both Fairchild and Sabine were adamant that this coaching change was completely unrelated and dissimilar to that change.

Fairchild says he’d like to have a new girls’ coach in place by mid-May.

“What I’m looking for is a coach that will fit our program,” said Fairchild. “Right now, it’s a pretty good situation, I would think, for somebody to step into. I’m going to give it a couple weeks and look at applications. There’s not a huge pool of qualified people out there for varsity coaching jobs, but we’ll take a look at it and if we come up with somebody we’re happy with tomorrow, once we get approval and all that, we’ll hire them.”

Fairchild says the summer basketball schedule is already in place and ready for whoever the new coach may be.

“We’re pretty well set there,” he said.

Sabine began coaching during the 2005-2006 season and the team went 1-17. The team won two and six games respectively the following years.

Though the team graduates regulars Alex Donald, Carrie Hayden, Ambyr Provost and Samantha Wark, the Raiders will still have the bulk of the team back, including all-conference pick, Maggie Sabine, a sophomore forward. Juniors Lynnae Chaput, Courtney Safford and sophomores Becca Lehotay, Abby Goulet and Devon Adair also return to form a promising lineup.