After the donated food — pizzas, raw vegetables and dip, and more — was consumed, Coach I.J. Pinkham, assisted by longtime Assistant Coach Dennis Rice, handed out awards to conclude the Boothbay Region Seahawks boys basketball season on Monday, March 12. Pinkham, who just concluded his 41st year coaching the Seahawks, also awarded the junior varsity certificates in the absence of j.v. coach Dan Hallinan, who was in Florida. He read a statement from Hallinan, who congratulated the j.v. boys on a fine season (13-2) and thanked the parents for their help, especially getting the inaugural j.v. tournament, the Frozen Court Classic, organized.

Pinkham also thanked the parents of his team members, as well as Boothbay Region TV, the Boothbay Register, and his assistant coaches.

The 2017-2018 Seahawks went 13-5 in the regular season and 15-6 overall. Pinkham, who has the most wins of any Maine high school basketball coach with 630, said he was proud of the fact that the team improved as the season progressed, winning 10 of its last 12 games. Reaching the state tournament for the 25th straight year, the Seahawks basketball program has provided some exciting basketball in Augusta, but the one-point win, 65-64, over the third-seeded Waynflete Flyers in this year’s quarterfinal game by the sixth-seeded Seahawks was one of the most exciting games Pinkham said he has coached in the tournament, “considering we were down by 13 points in the second half.” Boothbay’s semifinal game, a one-point loss, 61-60, to second-seeded Winthrop, was just as exciting but disappointing, with Pinkham mentioning the ending when no foul was called against the Ramblers.

“The team and individuals improved over the season and that is something a coach likes to see,” said Pinkham.

Mountain Valley Conference awards were presented to the following team members: senior Kyle Ames, first team; junior Steve Reny and sophomore Hunter Crocker, honorable mention; Ames and senior Nick Simpson, all-academic team. Ames, Simpson and senior Elijah Gudroe were picked to play in the MVC senior all-star game.

Pinkham, who failed to mention that he won another MVC Coach of the Year award by a vote of the league coaches, then presented plaques to the following players: Coach’s Award, senior Sam Burnham; Most Improved, Simpson; and MVP, Ames.

Pinkham praised Ames for his successful final season and career. Ames, besides being named a McDonald’s senior all-star, made the Seahawks all-time top-10 in a single season scoring with 397 points and he fell 52 points shy of scoring 1,000 points in his career.

“Considering he only scored nine points his freshman year, when we had a pretty good team that year, that’s quite an accomplishment,” said Pinkham.