Two of the state’s dominant large-school programs of the young century — Portland and Hampden Academy — are poised to extend their runs of success into the 2018 boys basketball tournament.
Portland has scored four state championships and six regional titles since 2000 — including the first two Class AA crowns of the five-class statewide format that was instituted in 2016 — and has backed up its preseason favorite’s status this winter with a strong regular season good for first place in the Class AA North Heal Points.
Hampden Academy, winner of three Class A state titles and six regional championships since 2005, has used a similar blend of talent, depth, tradition and veteran coaching to position itself in a familiar spot — atop the Class A North standings for the outset of postseason play.
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Of course, there are plenty of motivated challengers in each division motivated to replace those top seeds.
Portland is bidding to appear in its fifth consecutive state final, having split Class A victories with Hampden in 2014 and 2015 and defeating South Portland in both the 2016 and 2017 Class AA championship games.
This year’s Bulldogs feature arguably the state’s top player in senior Terion Moss, a 5-11 BDN All-Maine guard who can create his own offense when needed — he reached 1,000 points earlier this season — but is just as much at home creating opportunities for his teammates, including senior forward Griffin Foley and junior guards Pedro Fonseca and Emmanuel Yugu.
Those chasing Portland in Class AA North are led by Edward Little of Auburn, which rebounded from a three-game losing streak early in the season to work its way toward the top of the division behind sharp-shooting Darby Shea and forwards Wol Maiwen and Ibn Khalid, a transfer from Lewiston.
Oxford Hills of South Paris, Bangor and Windham spent the late stages of the regular season battling for third and fourth place in the region — and the right to play regional tournament quarterfinals on their home courts before the AA playdown moves to the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Oxford Hills overcame the transfer loss of BDN All-Maine forward Matt Fleming to Bangor to battle its way into contention behind a balanced attack that includes junior forward Colton Carson.
Fleming has emerged as one of the state’s top scorers in his new home while leading the senior-less Rams to a solid campaign under veteran coach Carl Parker, with junior guards Damien Vance and Noah Missbrenner and sophomore wing Henry Westrich providing Bangor a potent top four.
[2018 Maine high school basketball tournament brackets]
And Windham is ever-dangerous with one of the state’s best guard tandems in seniors Nick Curtis — a 1,000-point scorer — and Thomas College-bound Mike Gilman.
All eight Class AA North schools, including Deering and Cheverus of Portland and Lewiston, will qualify for regional postseason play.
Hampden, the preseason coaches’ pick to win it all in Class A North, has done nothing to diminish that standing during the regular season.
“Obviously we are excited that tourney time is right around the corner,” said Broncos’ coach Russ Bartlett. “I feel like we have been pretty consistent this season on both ends of the floor.”
Hampden features a definitive on-court leader in 6-foot-5 senior center Ian McIntyre, a rare four-year starter for the Broncos who earned BDN All-Maine recognition as a junior and this winter has surpassed 1,000 career points.
With a nucleus returned largely intact from the 2017 team that was upset by Cony of Augusta in the regional quarterfinals, the Broncos have an experienced nucleus surrounding McIntyre that is similarly motivated to return the program to the championship level.
That group includes senior guard Johnny Wolfington, senior forward Tommy Raye, junior guard Kory Winch and sophomore guard Bryce Lausier.
“We have real good balance in our starting lineup with all five guys averaging almost 10 points or more,” said Bartlett.
Hampden’s biggest regional threat may be its final regular-season opponent, the Nokomis Warriors.
Coach Ryan Martin’s club shook off a series of narrow early losses that left the Newport squad 4-5 at the midpoint of its schedule to surge up the standings behind the leadership of talented senior guards Josh Smestad and Zach Hartsgrove, the latter a 1,000-point scorer.
“Our group plays extremely hard for each other, and we will need to continue to do that as we enter a tournament field that is filled with talented teams that are well coached,” said Martin, whose club reached the 2017 quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed before dropping a hard-fought 53-49 decision to No. 3 Oceanside of Rockland.
“We also need to build from last year’s tournament experience. We know what it feels like to get there and lose a tough game.”
But the Warriors are among a bevy of teams that could advance deep into the Class A North tournament, including a Skowhegan squad that went in No. 8 last year and knocked off top-seeded Medomak Valley of Waldoboro in the quarters.
Coach Tom Nadeau’s current edition has several key players tournament-tested by that experience, among them sturdy junior forward Marcus Christopher and senior guard Cam Barnes.
Camden Hills of Rockport, long a perennial power in Class B, has had a solid comeback season after going 2-16 and 5-13 in its first two years in Class A with senior captain Noah Heidorn leading the way for coach Jeff Hart’s Windjammers.
Another team on the rise is Cony, which as the No. 7 seed last winter joined Skowhegan in turning the tables on the regular-season standings with a quarterfinal victory. Coach T.J. Maines’ club has one of the region’s top players in senior Jordan Roddy to lead a veteran nucleus.
Erskine Academy of South China, Medomak Valley and a dangerous Gardiner team also were in the playoff picture late in the regular season, with defending regional champion Messalonskee of Oakland, Brewer and Lawrence of Fairfield also hoping to score the late-season victories that would push them up the Heal Point rankings and on to the Augusta Civic Center.
The top eight finishers in Class A North advance directly to the regional quarterfinals.
“With a few teams that ended up with five or six losses, it shows you that there is some parity heading into the tournament and that anyone could have a memorable tournament run,” said Martin.
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