BY BILL STEWART

Staff Writer

On his priority list, basketball sits either fifth or sixth. He says the game should not define you as a person because, after all, it is just a game. He says he hasn't changed through the years, that he's still the same coach, preaching the same thing (hard work) with the same laid-back approach.

"My philosophy hasn't changed," Erskine Academy girls basketball coach Scott Corey said. "Nothing has changed."

Perhaps, but not everything stayed the same during the last three seasons. For starters, the Eagles are winning. A lot.

After winning a combined seven games during two seasons, Erskine enjoyed a remarkable renaissance, finishing 16-5 that included a deep run in the Eastern B tournament.

For leading the turnaround, Corey is this season's Kennebec Journal Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. Cony's Paul Vachon, Monmouth's Rick Amero and Richmond's Molly Bishop were also considered.

"I'm honored and I'm humbled," Corey said.

"It's really overwhelming. This year, things just went our way. This year it just happened to be that we won 16 games."

These kind of turnarounds don't just happen, however. You need good players, veteran leadership and a few bounces. And you also need a good coach. The Eagles had them all to help erase two woeful seasons with a winning one.

"He's more of a laid back coach I would say," said Brittany Belden, one of seven seniors on the squad.

"If we needed to focus, he would have us focused. He was always there for us, really inspirational. If we were doing bad he would tell us. He was good at making us focus. It was easy playing for him."

Corey didn't know what to expect when the season began, but it didn't take long before he had an inkling that the Eagles could be good.

"We're playing in the Hall-Dale Thanksgiving tournament," Corey said, "and we have two starters out and we're down 16 points with three and a half minutes to go. Then we came back and won it, 61-60. We have had one practice and we had two starters out and we came back and won."

After dropping a 70-41 decision Jan. 16 to Waterville, the Eagles closed the regular season with seven consecutive victories to finish 14-4.

"The kids don't miss a beat and we go on to win the rest of the games," Corey said. "We beat Gardiner at the end of the season, and that was the best game that we had played up to that point. But we turned the corner in mid-January after we lost to Waterville. We hit our stride, we got into a rhythm."

The Eagles carried their momentum into the Eastern Class B tournament, in which they won a preliminary and a quarterfinal round game before losing to Waterville in the semifinals. Despite the loss, Corey said the team had plenty to celebrate.

"It was fun to play for him," Belden said.

"You didn't have to worry what could go wrong. You just go out and have fun and play the game."

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com