The long road to the Bangor Auditorium and Eastern Maine basketball tournaments begins Friday night for Classes B, C and D teams.

Among the teams beginning their seasons Friday night are the Mount Desert Island girls. The Trojans return four starters to their girls team that beat Gray-New Gloucester to win the Class B state championship.

Leading the way is Miss Maine basketball candidate Bracey Barker. Barker will attend the University of Maine on a basketball scholarship next year and, at 6-foot-1, handles the point for the Trojans.

Coach Burt Barker said the Trojans have a weakness as far as their bench is concerned.

“I don’t think we’ll be as deep early in the season as I’d hoped … And we don’t have a post player. We’re a team of guards,” the coach said.

Burt Barker said the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference looks strong with Belfast, Camden Hills, Winslow and Maranacook of Readfield leading the way.

“Caribou returns a lot. Orono is a big team and Hermon has a nice young team,” Barker said.

The Trojans welcome George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill to the island tonight at 7.

Defending Class D girls state champion Woodland travels to Machias tonight at 7 to take on the Bulldogs.

Coach Arnie Clark will miss Ashley Marble and Julia Knights, who graduated. But the Dragons return three starters, including dependable point guard junior Kaitlyn Leeman.

“It’s going to be a bit of a different team,” Clark said. “We lost some of our quickness.”

Clark identified Lee Academy, Shead of Eastport and East Grand of Danforth as the teams to beat in Class D.

Last year’s Class D Eastern Maine boys’ champs Bangor Christian came within a whisker of the state championship, dropping a 67-66 decision to Valley of Bingham.

The Patriots tip off their season tonight at 7, hosting Schenck of East Millinocket at Husson College’s Newman Gymnasium.

Bangor Christian coach Gary Colson is looking forward to the return of senior David Chrisos who missed all but one game of the playoffs last year after being involved in a car accident.

Chrisos, a Wendy’s High School Heisman national finalist, joins returning starters Josh Madden, who Colson said really improved his game over the summer, and junior point guard Greg Patterson.

“[Patterson] is 6-4 and will create some matchup problems,” Colson said.

Colson said he expects Class D to be very competitive with Southern Aroostook of Mars Hill and East Grand of Danforth returning strong teams.

“And I don’t think you can ever look past Jonesport-Beals with [coach] Ordie [Alley] down there,” Colson said.

In some of the other boys games being played on Friday, Orono travels to Houlton, Sumner of East Sullivan is at Washington Academy of East Machias, Katahdin of Sherman Station travels to Dyer Brook to take on Southern Aroostook and Caribou is at Van Buren.

On Saturday, the Dexter girls, who were 19-2 last year, visit Foxcroft Academy, Orono is at Houlton and Narraguagus of Harrington travels to East Machias to play Washington Academy.