Sixth in a series of previews about Eastern Maine’s promising high school basketball teams for the 1995-96 season.

Boys Class D defending state champion Machias brings back two starters and three seniors. Runner-up Central Aroostook brings back three starters and nine seniors. You do the math.

Class D coaches point to those two powers as the far-and-away favorites, but the fact is the Central Aroostook Panthers are loaded with talent while the Machias Bulldogs have been severely disarmed unexpectedly.

After defeating Central Aroostook 35-34 for the Eastern Maine championship last February, Bulldogs coach Tobin Slavin said Machias won’t make much of a comeback.

“I think a lot of people would have picked Machias higher because of what we did in Bangor, but what they don’t know is we’re actually a much younger team,” Slavin said. “We had a couple of seniors who decided not to play.”

Seniors Steven Dube and Justin Hayward are not on this winter’s roster.

Slavin said after losing three veterans to graduation, the Bulldogs would have returned five seniors. To make matters worse, junior forward John Sowerwine moved out of state.

That means Machias only has the leadership of 5-foot-11 Adam Kilton, 6-3 Paul Cox and 5-10 Josh Look who saw time in the tournament. But the Bulldogs did gain senior transfer Triston Davis from Washington Academy in East Machias.

Meanwhile, Central Aroostook, the 1994 Eastern Maine champion, boasts 6-2 Ben Allen, 5-11 veteran floor general Mitchell Orser and Bangor Daily News All-Tournament guard Matt Townsend.

“We have a lot of versatility, quickness, and a lot of depth,” said Coach Jerry Adams.

You can’t ask for much more for your rookie season.

Adams, a referee for 25 years who coached the Ashland boys last winter following a 20-year hiatus from coaching, is confident his new team will bounce back.

The truth is, no one sees the Bulldogs beating the Panthers again.

“Central Aroostook is definitely the favorite,” Van Buren coach Matt Rossignol said. “Machias has a very deliberate style and last year Central Aroostook let them control the tempo. But when Central Aroostook lost to Machias, that was a big upset.”

“Central Aroostook is unbelievalbe,” Ashland coach Chris Thornton said. “Jerry Adams just has to roll the ball out and say, `Go with it.’ ”

Van Buren is also expected to make its way into the Eastern Maine tournament.

But after losing to graduation a group of four starters that scored 40 to 50 points a game, the Crusaders will have to rely heavily on junior starter Travis Valliancourt, who averaged 17 points per game last year.

“We’re hoping to find a way to score more points,” Rossignol said. “Last year’s teams knew they’d make the tournament coming off a semifinal appearance the year before. We’re hoping to get into the tournament this year.”

Jonesport-Beals, a young team that missed going to the tournament last year, should be there this year. The Royals’ rich basketball history was last punctuated with a state championship in 1993.

“You can never count out Jonesport-Beals,” Adams said. “Their coach [Ordie Alley] is a legend and the kids respond to him. You can count on seeing them.”

And, with four returning starters and 6-3 senior Paul Harold chasing his 1,000th point, Ashland should prove a strong dark horse after just missing the tournament last year.