enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Paul True, who has a 77-9 record over four years as the Lake Region girls’ basketball coach, stresses not only the importance of defense on each possession, but the value of building a program from the rec leagues on up.

TRUE AT NAPLES

2004-05: 18-3

05-06: 21-1

06-07: 19-3

07-08: 19-2

STATE 'B' GIRLS' FINAL

WHO: Lake Region (19-2) vs. Waterville (21-0)

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Bangor Auditorium

Twenty years ago, Paul True was a terrific guard who led a talented Fryeburg Academy team in scoring, assists and steals. He expected a lot of himself and was devastated when his senior season ended in the Western Class B semifinals.

But after the game, his coach, Gerry Durgin, now the Gorham athletic director, told True something he never forgot.

"He told me that it was time for me to give back to the game that had given me so much," said True, now the athletic director and girls' basketball coach at Lake Region High in Naples.

And so he did.

Now in his fourth year as coach of the Lakers, the 38-year-old True has become one of the state's best girls' basketball coaches. He has led the Lakers to four consecutive Western Class B title games, the last three Class B state championship games, and has a four-year mark of 77-9 heading into Friday night's title game against Waterville at the Bangor Auditorium.

In seven years previously, he had a 94-42 record at Skowhegan, and in his last season there the Indians advanced to the Eastern Class A final.

"I have a great deal of respect for Paul," said Falmouth girls' coach George Conant, whose teams have lost just six games the last two years -- five to Lake Region. "I like to think that we coach with the same idea, that we're here to teach the game, and the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

"Paul is a true teacher of the game. A lot of people teach plays, teach this and teach that. Paul teaches the way to play."

True's players are unselfish and well-schooled. They play a defense Conant calls "suffocating," but "passionate" might be a better word. The Lakers play every defensive possession as if their lives depended on it.

"The one thing that I love about these kids is that they play for the next play," said True, who followed his father, Harry, into coaching. "I had a real hard time doing that (as a player). I would always get down on myself easily because of the time I put into the game. But I feel my team, they play every play like it's their last.

"They don't allow a mistake to really bring them down. I think they've shown that the last three games. That wasn't me as a player. I would get frustrated, so I try to share with the players that it's always about the next play. They play every possession like we need that stop every time down the floor."

Durgin sees a lot of True in the Lake Region players. "He expects his kids to play at the defensive end and to emphasize the team concept," said Durgin. "And Paul had a passion for the game that he is trying to instill in his players."

"I want the kids to have a positive experience and to approach what they're doing with passion and effort every single day," said True. "That's how I approached the game and it opened doors for me."

His players feel that passion. They also trust True implicitly.

Before this season's playoffs, senior Erica Webb spoke of True's ability to put together the right combinations. "He knows our strengths and he does an awesome job of putting us where we need to be," she said.

"He's the one that's brought us here every time," said senior Renee Nicholas, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding and steals, and is second in assists. "I know I've never wanted to work so hard for a person. I can't explain so much respect everyone has for him."

True feels fortunate to be at Lake Region. He has created, within the school district, one program where the same skills are taught, the same drills are used and the same language used by coaches at every level, from rec leagues to travel teams to middle school. "Everyone is in it for the kids and the program," said True. "That makes a huge difference."

He came to Lake Region when Skowhegan officials couldn't come up with a full-time teaching job for him. Even though Lake Region didn't have a teaching job, he was able to find work at Hancock Lumber....