The Orono girls varsity basketball team have worked hard for success in previous years. They managed to make it to the state tournament in the 2014-2015 season. Last year they took second place in sections, falling one game short of going to state. This successful was all under the careful eye of coach Ellen Weise. Weise resigned after last year’s season to become an assistant coach at The University of St. Thomas.

This season, the team will be coached by Lavesa Glover, who is also Orono’s new Athletic Administrative Assistant to Bucky Mieras. Glover attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, a NCAA Division I school where she played basketball on scholarship. She studied communications with emphasis on electronic media.   

“Coach Glover brings an incredible energy to the program that I’ve never seen before. It’s a new adjustment but she makes it easy,” sophomore Jordan Case said.

Glover has had many successes of her own, on and off the court. She loved the feeling of being on a team and creating a sense of family with her teammates. She continues coaching because the atmosphere of the game is special, and she hopes to carry that onto her team this year.    

“My sophomore year of college, my team was in the second round of the NCAA tournament. We were playing Yukon, which if anybody knows basketball, Yukon is the mecca of all teams. And I remember we were beating them at halftime, 24-22. Being in that atmosphere, being in a packed house, giving it our all and playing a hard fought game. It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Glover said.

Glover has coached five years collegiately, at four different schools. She attained the position in the district before the coaching position.   

“I wanted to continue the success and the tradition and it’s always fun to be around the vibrant youth,” Glover said.

This years team has four senior captains, Natalie Smaron, Ellen Nehotte, Tori Andrew and Mattie Rice. Glover has high hopes. She firmly believes that these seniors will go out on a high note and enjoy their senior basketball season. The team lost six seniors last year, and people are already underestimating this year’s team.

“My hopes this year are to shock people. And mainly to beat Hutch,” Glover said.  

Senior captain Tori Andrew has been on varsity since her Freshman year and has been a huge asset in the team’s previous successes.  She is committed to play basketball at Yale in the fall of 2017. With the season underway, she has cultivated a bond with Glover during practices and in the office during school.

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“She‘s super energetic and brings a great new style to our program. Her passion for the game and for our team is infectious; we are so pumped to play for her,” Andrew said.

Glover is very approachable and will talk to anyone. During the school day, there is a good chance that she gets a visit from one of her players at least once and will make time to converse with them.

Another key player to the team is senior captain Natalie Smaron, who makes frequent visits to Glover’s desk in the main office as well. She got a chance to bond early with Glover and is excited to start the new season with their new coach. Tryouts were held on Nov. 21 and games have already begun.

“She pushes us to be our best, but we have fun while we are doing it. She is constantly teaching us new skills but is always willing to answer any questions that we have,” Smaron said.

The Orono Girls Basketball team hopes to have a great season under the coaching staff of Glover, Brittany Evans, Ajuda Alwall and Mat Wilstrom.