Another year, another Eastern Maine Class C tournament filled with standout teams.

There are no shortages of top-flight teams with impressive records in either the Northeast or Southeast divisions as the latest version of the controversial open tournament hits the Bangor Auditorium.

In the Northeast, the top seed is Piscataquis of Guilford with a 17-1 mark. The Pirates finished the regular season in a flourish by handing Class D colossus Valley of Bingham its first loss in almost five years.

“I hope this puts us number one,” said PCHS coach Jamie Russell after beating Valley. “All we’ve been hearing about is how our Northeast division bracket is weak. We respect those southeast teams, but we surely know we can play with them now because Valley’s as good as anyone.”

The win did push them to the top as the Pirates leap-frogged unbeaten Hodgdon (18-0).

The Hawks and the Pirates have easily been the class of the Northeast ranks this year, but they’re not the only top-tier teams. The Southeast division has three with Washington Academy of East Machias at 16-2, George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill (16-2), and Calais (17-1). The fact that Calais is third despite its impressive season shows how stacked this tournament should be.

That doesn’t even take into account the other teams with better than respectable records like 13-5 Dexter, 12-6 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, and 11-7 Schenck of East Millinocket.

But first, the heavyweights:

For the second straight year, the Pirates of Guilford remained unbeaten in the East Class C ranks, where they simply ransacked their rivals.

PCHS’s only two losses the last two years were in the 2001 state title game to Boothbay and to Valley almost a month ago.

Despite the loss of NEWS All-Maine team member Buddy Leavitt and leading rebounder Randy Burgess to graduation, the Pirates are back and look just as good as last year.

PCHS’ guard play has taken over the spotlight as Kyle Pulkkinen and Keith Dawson have led the attack. Starting frontcourt players Ben Smith, Dustin Carson and Tyler Tracy have done a nice job filling the void left by Burgess and Leavitt underneath, but so have the guards as rebounding has truly become a team effort.

Mention Hodgdon and the first name that pops up is usually Tyler Putnam, the Hawks 6-4 senior forward who is one of the best players in Eastern Maine. Putnam isn’t the only reason the Hawks are unbeaten as the deep lineup features a solid corps of guards like Jimmy Griffin, Chris Blanchette, Adam Hogan and Tim Williams.

A coaching change hasn’t stopped Calais from being the headliner team in the southeast for most of the season, but big wins by Washington Academy and George Stevens helped the Raiders and Eagles move ahead of the Blue Devils.

Calais has one of the best inside-outside combos in Maine with 6-5 center Joe Footer and 5-11 sophomore guard Andy Frost. Guards Darren Morrell, Russ McLean, and Mike Demolet and forward James Provencher complement the Devils attack very well and Calais also has lots of experience back from last season’s Eastern Maine runnerup squad.

Returning conference all-stars and standout shooters Bob Richardson and Nick Reynolds give the WA Raiders major firepower. The Raiders have run many teams ragged this season and love to use their press to drive opponents batty. The Raiders have plenty of experience with 13 seniors and good depth.

Matt Mattson’s Eagles also have plenty of firepower back from last season’s tourney team with junior guard and long-distance sharpshooter Mark Clapp, 6-6 senior center Ryan Hutchins, senior forward Nick Henderson, and junior guard Duane Ledien.

Dexter is another team with a great inside-outside combo and is also primed for a tournament return with 6-8 center Dustin Paige and junior guard Travis Patterson leading the Tigers’ charge. Senior guard Matt Mountain has also been an offensive contributor.

Sumner struggled through the season with an 8-10 mark, but the Tigers of East Sullivan return plenty of tourney experience in guards Jamey Polk and J.J. Phinney, and 6-7 center Justin Winslow. Sophomore guard Dylan Johnson has injected more punch in the lineup as well.

Schenck’s Wolverines have had to suffer through some tough stretches this season, but their record proves their ability to play with anyone. Schenck is one of the better rebounding teams, all-around, and has good athletic talent in junior center Ryan Deschenes, senior forward Mike Rossignol, and sophomore guard Brian Graham.

The Mattanawcook Lynx started the season out by losing three of their first four games, but nobody’s overlooking them now that they’ve gone 11-3 the rest of the way. Matt Malone, Tyler Libbey, Dan LaPlante and Jon Carney have led the charge for the Lynx. Nate Cousineau and Fred Pete have also figured prominently for MA.

Want some dark horse candidates? Don’t overlook the 9-9 Narraguagus Knights of Harrington or 8-10 Stearns Minutemen of Millinocket.