FAYETTEVILLE - Haas Hall Academy basketball coach Basil Seymour-Davies stashed his coffee at the scorer’s table prior to the Lady Mastiffs’ game Thursday night so it wouldn’t get knocked over.

“They let you have coff ee during the games?” the scoreboard operator asked jokingly. “You’re not already wired enough?”

But Seymour-Davies has a good reason for getting a little extra caff eine. He’s the head coach for Haas Hall’s girls and boys teams.

He’s coached the girls since the program was started in 2010, then began coaching the boys team last year, volunteering his time. And he teaches art and French at the school, located off College Avenue in Fayetteville.

The busy schedule doesn’t leave a ton of free time.

“I feel bad for my girlfriend, who has to put up with it,” Seymour-Davies said. “I really do. But she’s a really good sport.”

It hasn’t always been easy trying to build two young, small programs.

Haas Hall didn’t even have a conference to play in its first two years. The Mastiff s still play their home games in Fayetteville Christian School’s gym.

Both Mastiffs teams went winless in five games the fi rst season, with the girls team, comprised of several players who had never played, losing one game by more than 100 points. The girls didn’t win a game again in year two, while the boys managed just one victory.

But Seymour-Davies’ determination hasn’t wavered during his tenure.

“I want to stick it out and see it through,” he said. “I want to see this program established.”

Seymour-Davies teaches his classes each school day, then coaches the boys practice most of the night. Another volunteer regularly coaches the girls practice, while Seymour-Davies still coaches the girls games.

“We have a really unique situation,” said senior Rachel Maddock, who began playing as a sophomore in the program’s second year.

Last season - year three - was a breakthrough for both teams. Haas Hall joinedthe 1A-1 West Conference and both teams had their best seasons to date.

For a senior-laden boys team, that meant an eightwin year. For the girls, who struggled so much their fi rst few seasons, it meant the fi rst four victories in program history, including winning the program’s first game in an emotional comeback at St. Paul.

“That’s actually what I wrote one of my college essays on,” Maddock said.“Because it was just such an emotional night for all of us. We’d worked really hard to get there and we were always considered the underdogs. When we fi nally pulled that win through, everyone was crying. It was a really emotional night.”

The building process continued Thursday when Haas Hall hosted Scranton, which has historically fi elded strong boys and girls teams.

The Lady Mastiffs (7-13) had an off shooting night in a 62-35 loss, but were competitive and had a highlight play when freshman Angela Saitta banked in a 3-pointer from 35 feet at the first quarter buzzer. It was a game that likely would have been decided by a much wider margin just a few years ago.

“I believe the first time we played Scranton we lost by 70 or more points,” Maddock said. “So it’s a big diff erence. Everyone keeps saying we’re turning the corner. But I’m not going to be satisfied until we start winning these games, because I know we can.”

The Mastiffs (5-15) lost 52-38 in their game, another learning experience for a team that replaced fi ve starters and two key reservesafter being hit hard by graduation. Junior Lemuel Reber had a team-high 20 points for the Mastiff s, who fell behind early but outscored Scranton 15-2 in the fourth quarter.

Haas Hall has improved drastically since current junior Tyler Browne had to suit up as an eighth grader in the program’s fi rst year.

“Experience has been the biggest thing,” Browne said. “I’ve become smarter. I’ve just gotten able to play with bigger, stronger people.”

Seymour-Davies can see the progress, too. And he hopes it will continue with the school growing at a fast rate, going from around 250 students in eighth through 12th grade when he arrived to around 320 this year.

The bump in enrollment will result in Haas Hall moving up to Class 3A next season, another challenge Seymour-Davies is ready to embrace.

“At first, I was exasperated,” he said. “After it settles in, you’re just like, ‘No, by the end of the year we need to be ready we can prepare for the next level.’ That’s really all you can do.

“Just go for it and see what happens. It can’t be worse than losing by 100 points. Been there, done that.”HOW THEY SCORED GIRLS SCRANTON 62, HAAS HALL 35 Scranton 20 16 18 8 - 62 Haas Hall 11 9 7 8 - 35 SCRANTON: Blaschke 19, J. Kremers 16, White 9, Siebenmorgen 8, K. Kremers 4, M. Siebenmorgen 3, Forst 2, Williams 1.

HAAS HALL (7-13): Maddock 9, Christie 9, Saitta 8, Gibson 5, Rainey 2, Bowman 2.

BOYS SCRANTON 52, HAAS HALL 38 Scranton 23 8 19 2 - 52 Haas Hall 3 13 7 15 - 38 SCRANTON: Roby 21, Siebenmorgen 16, Berg 8, White 5, Williams 2.

HAAS HALL (5-15): Reber 20, Browne 8, Maddock 4, Torbert 3, Wimberly 2, Bray 1.

Sports, Pages 8 on 01/31/2014