New Greely girls’ basketball coach Todd Flaherty.

Just as the summer practice season begins, Greely’s girls’ basketball program has a new coach.

Last week, Greely athletic director David Shapiro announced that Todd Flaherty will replace Joel Rogers as coach. Rogers led the Rangers for four seasons, going 67-17 and winning the 2015 Class B state title. Rogers stepped down earlier this spring.

Flaherty played basketball at Morse High School for future Hall of Fame coaches Tony Hamlin and Tom Maines, coached in the Morse system for 15 years and spent three years as a coach at St. Dominic Academy in Auburn before taking a year off of coaching last winter.

“I wanted to go someplace with high expectations and Greely certainly has that,” said Flaherty. “It’s been a very successful program and I want to build on that. I’m very fortunate.”

Shapiro is glad Flaherty has come aboard.

“We are excited to have Todd as our new girls’ varsity basketball coach,” Shapiro said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program. We were very deliberate in our process of selecting our new coach. Todd distinguished himself from the 14 other candidates who applied as the best fit for our program. He comes to us highly recommended by his peers, he has a proven track record of success and he won the support of our hiring committee. Joel Rogers left our program in great shape and taught our girls how to play the game well. Coach Flaherty will certainly be able to carry on our tradition of excellence with his enthusiasm and knowledge and we are looking forward to a great season.”

Flaherty inherits a Rangers team which went 17-4 a year ago, reaching the regional final before losing to eventual state champion York.

Greely returns several strong players, most notably rising sophomore Anna DeWolfe, and should be in the title mix in 2016-17.

“I’m not familiar with the girls, but I know Greely always has a strong program,” Flaherty said. “I haven’t seen Anna play yet, but I understand she’s very good.”

Flaherty has a motion offense background and wants his players to be able to showcase their skills.

“We’ll teach the kids to read the defense and have freedom on offense,” Flaherty said. “We play man-to-man-defense and we’ll press and be aggressive. We’ll be a little different than what the fans have seen.”

Flaherty started working with the team Monday is eager to get going. The Rangers will compete in the Tuesday/Thursday night Expo league over the summer.

“I’m jumping right on board,” Flaherty said. “The kids’ response to me so far has been very positive.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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