The Caribou Vikings provided one of the major storylines of the 2018-2019 schoolboy basketball postseason. They ended Hermon’s 42-game winning streak in the Class B North championship game and then outlasted Cape Elizabeth in double overtime to capture the program’s first state championship in 50 years.
Coach Kyle Corrigan’s club may be even better this winter, with four returning starters back led by Bangor Daily News All-Maine forward Parker Deprey, a 6-foot-2 senior.
“I think we will be much deeper than we were last season,” Corrigan said. “We stuck with a seven-man rotation for most of the season last year but I can see us having a nine- to 10-man rotation this year.”
Other returning starters are senior guard Alex Bouchard, senior forward Isaac Marker and junior forward Sawyer Deprey, Parker’s brother.
“Last year was an amazing achievement for our program but it’s over,” Corrigan said. “We were able to enjoy it for the last eight months but now we’re moving on. We’re preaching every day that this is a new year. We’re a different squad and we need to take it one game at a time with a focus on getting better every day.”
One of Caribou’s biggest Class B North challengers should be Ellsworth, a semifinalist last season that features the brother tandem of senior forward Jackson Curtis and sophomore guard Hunter Curtis. They combined for nearly 30 points and 16 rebounds per game last winter.
Hermon, the 2018 state champion and 42-1 over the last two seasons, graduated four starters but returns one of the region’s top players in senior forward Isaac Varney. Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor has been a constant among the division’s top teams in recent years under coach Justin Norwood, while Washington Academy of East Machias looms as another potential contender from the Big East Conference.
Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield went 14-4 and reached the regional semifinals despite losing guard Owen Williams to injury for much of the winter. Now the senior guard is back and with junior swingman Gavin McArthur comprises a talented duo that should help coach Josh Tardy’s Huskies remain a top tournament threat from the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.
Houlton, the reigning Class C North champion, has moved up to Class B by enrollment and should be solid in its new division as led by reigning tournament MVP Keegan Gentle, a senior guard.
Class A
Hampden Academy has been a longtime Class A powerhouse under head coach Russ Bartlett, and the bitter taste of a quarterfinal ouster from last winter’s tournament may provide just the additional source of motivation the Broncos need to surge past the likes of Cony of Augusta and Medomak Valley of Waldoboro for a return to state championship competition.
Hampden, 14-4 during the 2018-2019 regular season, returns one of the state’s premier players in Bryce Lausier, a versatile 6-3 senior guard who earned BDN All-Maine accolades last winter.
“Bryce has put a lot of time into improving his game and his frame,” Bartlett said. “I look for him to have a great senior year.”
Senior forward Mikey Raye and junior guard Andy Raye are other prominent returning contributors, while 6-7 sophomore T.J. Henaghen and 6-4 junior Brayden Cole also will be pivotal in Hampden maximizing its potential.
Fast-paced Cony, the No. 1 seed last season at 14-4, returns a deep and veteran cast led by one of the state’s most exciting players in senior guard Simon McCormick. Medomak Valley has senior forward Gabe Allaire back to lead the way.
The Brewer Witches, who reached the semifinals as the No. 6 seed, boast a promising nucleus that includes senior guard Trevor Pearson, junior forward Dylan Huff and sophomore guards Aaron Newcomb and Colby Smith.
One major coaching change in the division has Jon Moro replacing 37-year head Windjammers coach Jeff Hart at Camden Hills of Rockport. Moro, a guard on Hart’s 1999 Camden Hills state championship team, most recently was the freshman basketball coach under Hart, who posted 503 career coaching wins before retiring last spring to become the school’s athletic administrator.
Class C
Houlton’s move to Class B has left a vacuum atop the Class C North rankings, and among the teams that may be poised to ascend to those reaches are the Dexter Tigers.
Longtime coach Peter Murray has an experienced, defensive-minded crew back including seniors Nathan Richards, Logan Perkins and 6-4 Cameron Paige and junior Brett Kusnierz from the team’s 14-4 finish a year ago.
Central Aroostook of Mars Hill, top-seeded at the end of the 2019 regular season only to be upset in the quarterfinals on a last-second shot, returns senior forwards Brayden Bradbury and Ethan Pryor, and should be buoyed by the school’s recent run to the Class D state championship in boys soccer.
Another team to watch from the northern reaches is Fort Fairfield. Coach Vaughan McLaughlin’s Tigers finished ninth a year ago despite a 12-6 record but should return virtually intact after suffering no graduation losses.
Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln had a breakthrough 15-3 season under coach Lucas Turner last winter, but must overcome significant graduation losses. George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill boasts plenty of recent tradition but will have to replace talented forward Andrew Szwez, a junior who transferred to Bangor.
Class D
Defending Class D North champion Schenck features a talented on-court leader in junior swingman Tyrone Davis but this may be the year when the legend of Jonesport-Beals returns to the top.
Coach Skipper Alley’s Royals have reached the regional final each of the last two years and may be poised to break through with talented forwards Kaiden Crowley and Ryan Alley now seniors and junior guard Alvin Beal Jr. back after joining Crowley as an all-tournament choice last winter.
Greater Houlton Christian Academy graduated only two seniors off last year’s semifinal team, while 2018 Class D North champion Woodland returns a top guard in senior Chris Plissey.
Easton, Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook and Deer Isle-Stonington are among other teams with a large group of returning players ready to challenge for postseason contention.
