History

History

The BFA girls' basketball program began in 1930 with the opening of Bellows Free Academy. The team, coached by Leo Papineau, was successful from its inception, winning several state titles. In 1945, the reigns of the program were handed over to, the soon to become legendary, Dario "Doc" Comi who coached the girls until 1973. Due to his successful record and the exciting style of play that teams exhibited under his direction, the girls' basketball teams soon became known as "Comi's Comets" and later, all the girls' teams at Bellows Free Academy, honored Comi by being dubbed Comets. During Comi's tenure as head coach, the BFA Comets won 14 state championships and amazingly, won 84 straight games from 1950 to 1955. The Comets had become recognized as one of the premier girls' basketball teams in the state of Vermont.

After the departure of Doc Comi, BFA physical education teacher, Kathy Keenan took over as the head coach of the Comets. Keenan was at the helm for the next five seasons until 1978 when she turned the program over to Frank Zakrzewski. A member of the social studies department at BFA, Zakzrewski guided BFA for the next three seasons. Although, during the 70s, the wins were not as plentiful as in previous years, the Comet teams still consisted of many good, hard-nosed basketball players who represented Bellows Free Academy well.

The 1981-82 season, marked the commencement of Jim Bashaw's coaching career at BFA and the beginning of the resurgence of Comet Basketball. Bashaw, a newly-hired mathematics teacher at BFA and former BFA star, joined the Comet program after stints at both Missisquoi Valley Union High School and Essex High School. Bashaw's first season at BFA was not a successful one in terms of wins and losses but was very successful in the sense that he began to establish new traditions and to build the Comets into a team that would be a perennial title contender. Bashaw piloted the Comets for the next 14 seasons, amassing a 211 - 99 record during those years. His teams made nine final-four appearances, competed in five title games, and won two state championships.

Following the retirement from coaching of Jim Bashaw, Richard "Bert" Berthiaume was selected to be the next to guide the Comets. Berthiaume was already a successful varsity girls soccer and softball coach at BFA and had experience coaching in the Comet basketball program, as the coach of the JV team in the late 1980s. Berthiaume's teams continued the proud traditions that Bashaw started until he decided to step down at the end of the 2000-01 season.

Former Comet star, Kelly Greenfield was then chosen to direct the Comet basketball program for the 2001-02 season. Although the teams still "played hard, played smart and played together", the start of the new millennium was not kind to the Comets. The teams struggled to string together victories, but still maintained many proud Comet traditions.

The tide began to turn for the Comets during the 2005-2006 season. Former Bobwhite star, Glenn Johnson took over the program, and with him came a freshman class that showed much promise. In his first season, Johnson steered the Comets through a run to the Division I title game. Although BFA lost the championship game to an excellent Essex High School team, "Comet Magic" had returned to Franklin County. These resurgent Comets returned to the Division I final-four for the next four seasons and completed the 2008-09 regular season with a 19 - 1 record, before falling in an exciting and tense championship game to the Spaulding Crimson Tide. The Comets have continued to be a major force in the mighty Metro division. After only reaching the playdowns in the 2009-2010, they returned to the quarterfinals in the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns.

Following the 2012-13 season, Glenn Johnson resigned and "Bert" Berthiaume returned to the varsity sidelines after coaching the JVs for the past eight seasons. Although relatively young, the Comet roster included three sophomores and two freshmen, the team put together a very successful regular season of 13 wins and 7 losses before falling to a deep and talented Burlington team in the playoffs. The early playoff exit left the Comets hungry for the start of the 2014-15 season. During that season the Comets barreled through the regular season with a 17-3 record and in the final game on BFA's home court (the gym would be completely renovated during the summer), they won a quarterfinal thriller in double overtime against the Burlington Seahorses. The Comets would return to the Patrick Gym for the first time in six seasons. In the semifinals, BFA fell to the Essex Hornets, but once again, the Comets had Franklin County buzzing!

Alas, that semifinal would be the last game for coach Berthiaume and Shawn Earl stepped up from the JVs to take the helm. Coach Earl and the Comets returned to the Patrick Gym during the 2015-16 season and soundly defeated the Brattleboro Colonels to secure a spot in the state championship game against defending champion, CVU. The Comets threw a scare into the Redhawks in front of a huge crowd but eventually succumbed as CVU won its 4th straight championship. During the 2016-17 season, the Comets would not be denied their third trip to Patrick Gym in as many seasons. In a tense and exciting game, the Comets lost to the #1 seed, St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers, in the final seconds of overtime, ending what was an excellent season. Despite suffering through an injury-plagued season during the '17-'18, the Comets played inspired basketball, determined to get back to Patrick Gym. After an opening first-round playoff win, they battled CVU to the bitter end before succumbing to the Redhawks, 37 - 46, in the quarterfinals. Although few in number, the '18-'19 Comets were full of grit and determination. After a fantastic season, the Comets returned to Patrick Gym where they attempted to dethrone the defending champion, St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers. In front of an enormous crowd, the Comets gave it all they had, but in the end, the Hilltoppers prevailed and BFA ended their successful season at 17-6.

Following the "18-'19 season, coach Earl decided he wanted to have more time to follow the basketball careers of his two children and he stepped down from the varsity coaching position. After interviewing several excellent candidates, the search committee selected Paul LaFountain as the new head coach of the Comets. In LaFountain's first year, the Comets rode their hard-nosed play to an 11 - 9 record and ultimately fell to MMU in the quarterfinals in one of the last games to be played in the COVID-19 shortened playoffs. 2020-21 brought another COVID-19 abbreviated season, but an extremely successful one for the Comets who battled their way through the playoffs and, after defeating SBHS in the semifinals, were declared Division I State Champions when Rice was unable to play the championship game due to COVID. After a tough 2021-22 season, one in which the Comets (3-17) dropped a play-in game to Rutland, LaFountain left the Comet program, and former Bobwhite player and Bobwhite and Comet coach, Shane Garceau was selected to be the next coach of the Comets.