Class A
The start to this basketball season will be defined by change, not just for one team, but for each and every program amid a statewide reclassification that has many squads shuffling between divisions.
Nowhere will that change be more pronounced than in the new Class A, where the state’s largest schools from the former Class AA are combining with some of the bigger members from the former Class A tier. That shift has the top class in the North region looking a lot different, and a lot less predictable, as a result.
After two years atop Class AA North, back-to-back returning state champion Windham has moved to the more geographically-accurate southern division. That departure, along with the arrival of some promising and reliable programs, has the new Class A North looking fairly wide open to start the season.
Camden Hills, one of those ascendant teams that made a strong push in the regional playoffs last season in Class A, boasts one of the state’s top players in senior guard Nolan Ames. As the only junior to make the Bangor Daily News All-Maine second or first team a year ago, Ames looks poised to anchor a Windjammers team that could do some damage in its newly-constructed class.
And though Brewer has the smallest enrollment of any school in the new Class A North, the Witches should be on everyone’s radar as a potential contender in the region. Brewer forward Oli Higgins is already generating buzz as a top player in the state despite being just a sophomore.
Don’t be surprised if Hampden Academy brings the same type of consistency to the new Class A this year that it’s shown in years prior, even after losing a few key contributors from last year’s team. And the reclassification could prove beneficial for a still-rebuilding Bangor squad.
“We’re a work in progress,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble, who is in his first season coaching the boys team after moving over from the girls program. He is still getting to know his new team, and his players are still getting to know him.
“Like anything, it takes some time,” Kemble said.
Bangor will spend less time on the road with a new schedule that includes more local opponents, like Hampden and Brewer, who are closer to home. The Class AA lineup previously had them making repeated trips to play in the Portland area throughout the season.
“People don’t realize how grueling that is,” Kemble explained about those repeated long bus rides.
Class B
The reigning Class B champion Caribou has moved down to Class C, but things won’t get any easier for the B teams left behind.
The Cony Rams from Augusta, formerly a Class A team, are joining Class B this year and immediately look like one of the teams to beat in the region. Cony guard Parker Morin was a BDN All-Maine Team honorable mention last year as a junior, and he and the Rams could prove to be a tough matchup for a Class B North already full of contenders.
“We will compete in our league, but it’s gonna be a battle every single night, every day,” said Ellsworth coach Matt Mattson, whose Eagles finished second in Class B North a year ago.
Mattson’s Ellsworth squad returns some key pieces like seniors Jackson Barry, Dawson Curtis and Bryce Hart. The Eagles should once again be competitive toward the top of the division, which also includes a talented group from Mount Desert Island.
The MDI squad is headlined by junior guard James Witham, who was already an All-Maine honorable mention in just his sophomore season last year. Witham looks poised to establish himself as a top player statewide, and expect MDI to be in the conversation at the end of the year in Class B North.
“We’ve got a lot to worry about. It’s a fun problem to have,” Mattson added about the difficult Class B schedule. “It’s good basketball.”
Class C
The returning Class B champion Caribou Vikings have to be among the early favorites as they head down to Class C, but head coach Kyle Corrigan is adamant that nothing gets easier in the new division.
“Nothing’s easy in Class C,” Corrigan said. “I’ve looked up and down and there are some deep teams, there are some really good teams. Class C is gonna be wicked — very competitive.”
That competition will include perennial Class B powerhouse Orono, which joins Caribou in the switch to Class C this season. Orono coach Ed Kohtala’s Red Riots had won two straight state championships before Caribou usurped them last year.
Things will look a little differently for Orono, however, after losing team leader Will Francis to graduation and already starting the year with uncertainty about one of its top performers.
Kohtala said senior Matt Allen, an expected post presence for the team, is working through an injury resulting from his time as the goalkeeper on the school’s regional champion soccer team.
Orono was expecting to rely on a talented trio of experienced seniors in guards Brady Hews and Bergen Soderberg, along with Allen down low. But the question mark around Allen’s status could provide an early complication for the Red Riots.
And those are just some of the new arrivals in Class C.
Until someone takes it from them, the regional title still belongs to the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx of Lincoln. Mattanawcook went 21-0 heading into last year’s Class C state championship game, falling one win short of the state title with a loss to Mt. Abram.
The Lynx boasted two of the five members of last year’s BDN Class C North all-tournament team in point guard Kooper McCarthy and forward Andrew Oliver, and both seem ready for another big year.
Class D
In a year that promises to have crowded fields across the classes, Class D North might see the biggest battle at the top.
Schenck of East Millinocket heads into the season as the defending North regional champ, having finally bested previous champion Bangor Christian at the Cross Center last year. The Wolverines return senior guard and 2025 all-tournament team member Brayden Osborne, and he is sure to factor in heavily during Schenck’s push to defend the title this season.
But Bangor Christian looks well positioned to be right there again this year, with former Patriots girls coach Kevin Reed heading up the boys bench. Reed takes over a talented roster that includes his son Rajon Reed, who was already one of the top players in Class D North last season as just a sophomore. Junior guard Reed and senior forward Jesse Booker could prove to be among the region’s best duos this year.
Don’t be surprised if Machias looks strong as it makes the switch from Class C to D, with senior point guard Mickey Fitzsimmons likely to set the pace once again for the Bulldogs.
And one of last year’s most compelling stories in Class C, the upstart Owls from Madawaska, will be flying into Class D with a ton of momentum from last year’s tournament run. That postseason push featured the improbable performance by Quinn Pelletier, who notched 43 points in a single game against Mattanawcook and became the first eighth grader to ever be named MVP as part of the BDN’s all-tournament voting. Now a freshman, Pelletier and his Madawaska teammates loom large in the formidable Class D lineup.
Class S
Another of the biggest changes with this year’s classification involves the state’s smallest schools. The new Class S includes schools with total enrollment under 100 students. And in the North, that means 10 teams will battle it out for the new Class S regional title.
An early favorite in that race would have to be Katahdin High School of Stacyville, which made it all the way to the Class D North title game a year ago before falling to Schenck. Senior guard Calvin Richardson appears to be an early key for Katahdin after earning an all-tournament team honorable mention last year.
This story will appear in print on Friday, Dec. 5 as part of a basketball season preview special section.
