That was the theme for both the Edward Little girls’ and the Oxford Hills boys’ basketball teams as the winter sports season kicked off across the state Monday.

For Oxford Hills, which reached the Class AA North semifinals last year, it means moving on without star player Andrew Fleming for the first time in four years while trying to build off of the success of that era.

For Edward Little, which won its first regional title last season, it means striving for one more step, which would bring with it the program’s first state title.

The Red Eddies graduated a talented trio from a 16-5 team — Emily Jacques, Karli Stubbs and Francesca-Beth Haines. But there is plenty of firepower to make another run in the loaded Class AA, with Piper Norcross and Kaylee Jipson returning to the backcourt and one of the top post players in the state, 6-foot center Jordyn Reynolds.

A 10-point loss to Gorham in the state championship game ended EL’s historic run but not its pursuit of a gold ball.

“The loss is hard to carry, but I think it motivates us more trying to get back there,” Kaylee Jipson said. 

Key contributors such as sophomore guard Jade Perry are also back and part of a youth movement that will need to contribute for the Red Eddies to make another state game. Four of EL’s top seven players will be sophomores and freshmen. Jipson is looking for the youngsters and the veterans to make the most of adjusted roles and playing time.

“Last year, Karli Stubbs took her game to a whole other level, and that’s what we need kids to do this year,” Craig Jipson said. “(Sophomore guard) Grace Fontaine didn’t play a lot last year. She may never come off the court this year. Last year, (sophomore) Jade Perry was our sixth or seventh option. This year, she’ll be our third option. That’s just high school basketball. You’re always looking for kids to make that next level.”

The returning players are confident they will be able to make that leap because of the team’s cohesion.

“I think we’ll play better as a team this year. We’ll have really good chemistry,” Norcross said. “We get along really well as a group and we’ve been playing together since we were really little. We know each other’s games, so we know who’s going to have our back on ‘D’ and who’s going to be there to get the ball.”

They know their teammates have their back, but the Red Eddies also know that, as defending regional champions, they’ll have a target on their backs, too.

“Oh, there’s a big one,” Reynolds said.

Coach Jipson acknowledges his team won’t sneak up on anybody this season, but is trying to diffuse the pressure his players feel to repeat.

“Last year, we had lost the Brooke Reynolds/Tianna Harriman class, and we were so relaxed that we felt like it was part of our success last year. After losing eight seniors, no one expected anything. So I think we’ve just got to continue with that,” Jipson said.

Vikings move on from Fleming era

Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam held tryouts Monday without Andrew Fleming on the court for the first time in four years. The 2016 Maine Gatorade Player of the Year is playing for the University of Maine, and Graffam isn’t sure how the nucleus that remains will react without having his dominating presence looming.

“High school kids are funny in that I think it’s hard for them to realize what an impact great players have,” Graffam said. “I think they understand he obviously helped us a great deal, but now they’re going to have to play without him there to take away a lot of their mistakes. It’s going to be really interesting to see how they react.”

The Vikings, who also graduated guards Jake Beauchesne and Blake Slicer, certainly won’t be a bunch of wide-eyed newbies. The returning nucleus includes starters senior guard Cole Verrier, junior guard Chris St. Pierre and sophomore forward Matt Fleming, Andrew’s younger brother.

“Most of these kids played last year,” Graffam said. “We’re going to be a different team. Obviously, we’re not going to be able to come down and throw it in to (Andrew Fleming) and have him throw it back out for a wide-open shooter. These guys got some real good shots last year because people were trying to cover Andrew. Now, they’re really going to have to play with each other in order to get that done.”

“Last year, we’d give Andrew the ball and let him do whatever he wanted to,” Matt Fleming said. “This year, it’s going to be more of us creating for each other.”

The Vikings are ready to carve their own identity after playing in Andrew Fleming’s shadow the past couple of years.

“It’s going to be a whole different look for us,” Verrier said. “We’ll have to play faster, shoot more 3s and have a different playing style.”

They may have to play a different style, but Graffam is hoping to continue the same level of success and excitement the program enjoyed the last four years. Fleming made local kids more interested in basketball, he said. So even though the “Andrew Fleming Era” may be over, the ripple effect should last a lot longer.

“Program-wise, we’re hoping that this era that just ended is going to continue because the longest run of postseason appearances in the history of the school is six years in a row,” Graffam said. “We just finished year four. We’re hoping that we can continue this and get another long streak going of postseason teams.”

“I think in the past the goal or the hope might have been that the team would go to the playoffs,” Matt Fleming said. “But now, I think it’s an expectation. And that’s going to continue for the next few years.”