Ellsworth High School has its new head boys basketball coach.
Following Peter Austin’s decision to step down in May after 17 years as head coach at Ellsworth, Matt Mattson of Blue Hill was hired to take the reins last week.
Mattson graduated from George Stevens Academy in 1991 with 1,396 career points, and was directly involved with all four of the Eagles’ Class C state championships since 2000 — as a head coach in 2003, and an assistant coach during their threepeat from 2016 to 2018.
In total, Mattson coached 15 seasons at George Stevens, and will now coach another successful program from Hancock County with the Eagle mascot.
Ellsworth was the No. 1 seed in Class B North each of the past three years, culminating in one regional championship in 2022 and a Mr. Maine Basketball award for Chance Mercier (class of 2024).
Ellsworth compiled a 191-78 regular season record during Austin’s tenure, with two regional championships and just three losing seasons. The Eagles will return four key players in Hollis Grindal, Kyle Kenney, Brayden King and Dawson Curtis.
