For the first time ever, the Hollis Brookline boys basketball team took a trip to Maine to compete in a tournament. Over the holiday break on December 28th, the team jumped on a bus and headed up to Portland, Maine. The tournament lasted three days. Throughout the whole weekend the boys fought hard and played against the tough competition that Maine had to offer.

The boys unfortunately fell short during the tournament games, however, there is a big silver lining; the team is getter their chemistry down.

“We improved with every game we played. We didn’t know much about the teams there, we just wanted to compete,” said Luther Payette ’16.

The competition in Maine is much stiffer than here in New Hampshire, so the boys really had to work hard throughout the tournament.

Even though the boys didn’t get the result they were looking for, they are getting much better. With a young team comes a lot of inexperience. It also makes getting the chemistry and rotations down on the court much is easier said than done. This trip really did help this team with getting the experience they needed to start the regular season. “It was really good for the team, we bonded a lot and started to build chemistry on the floor,” said Nick Fothergill ’16.

When asked what the team needs to work on the most Michael Soucy, the head coach of the team, responded with “Consistency, the pieces are there, we just need to work on focusing on everything that we do”.

Overall, the trip was very beneficial for the team. Since this trip, the team has gone 2-3 beating Timberlane and St. Thomas Aquinas. The season has just begun and the team is looking to prove to themselves that they can stand up to any other team in the league.