No. 1, No. 2 teams in girls’ B are both 17-1

The Mount Desert Island girls basketball team knows how to prepare for the tournament.

After all, the Trojans have won two straight Class B state championships and are among the clear favorites to repeat as Eastern Maine winners.

Still, it’s important to get in good practice as the postseason approaches.

To that end, the Trojans will face the Dexter and Dirigo of Dixfield girls teams, which are considered to be two of the top Class C squads in the state. “I told [athletic director Bunky Dow] to get the toughest Class C teams he could get. And that’s what he did,” Barker said.

MDI and Camden Hills, which emerged with the No. 2 seed in Eastern Maine, are both 17-1. The Trojans’ only loss was to Class A Nokomis of Newport, while the Windjammers have an early-season loss to No. 3 Maranacook of Readfield.

Below MDI, the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference has a firm grip on the top tournament seeds. Maranacook, Belfast, and Rockland round out the top five.

MDI coach Burt Barker’s team seems to be doing all the right things at the end of the season. “I think our zone defense is strong, our press is decent,” Barker said. “We could work on our ball movement against a zone defense. “And we have to have a better balanced offense and not be so reliant on [top scorers Bracey Barker and Shelley Gott].”

Even that is coming around for MDI.

Barker is pleased with his rotation of six players, including senior standouts Barker and Gott, three-year starter Kara Horton, and key players Leah Joy, Jessica Norwood and Jenna Gordius.

The Trojans are shooting 42 percent from the floor as a team. Six-foot-1 point guard Bracey Barker is averaging 21 points and about 16 rebounds per game. She also has 46 blocked shots this year. Gott is averaging 14 ppg.

Norwood has come on strong lately and has made 34 3-pointers in MDI’s previous 10 games and is shooting 43 percent from behind the arc. She’s averaging nine points per game. Horton is shooting at a 51 percent clip.

Camden Hills is also hot right now. The Windjammers will enter the tournament with a 15-game winning streak.

Sisters Charlotte and Marianne Croce have been averaging 9.8 and 7.8 points per game, respectively. The Windjammers also have a strong crew of rebounders, led by Claire Neville’s 6.9 rebounds per game.

Senior Charlotte Croce has been averaging about five assists per game, her freshman sister isn’t far behind at 3.5. Both girls are averaging about 3.5 steals per game.

“[Charlotte Croce] has really assumed a point guard role for us,” Camden Hills coach Jay Carlsen said. “[Marianne Croce] is going to be a player. Her court awareness just keeps getting better. It’s just great to have two sisters who get along so well.” Stephanie McIntyre and Samantha Wiley round out the starting five.

The Windjammers don’t plan any postseason scrimmages.

Maranacook has two standout players in guard Toby Martin and forward-center Erica Brennan. Martin is averaging about 17 ppg, while Brennan is averaging about 10 rpg. The Black Bears have one loss each to Belfast, Rockland and Camden Hills, but they’ve won seven straight, including a 26-25 victory over the Lions.

Belfast and Rockland will face off for the third time this season in a quarterfinal Saturday morning. The Lions won the first game in the regular season and the Tigers took the rematch.

Ashley Bryant is also scoring about 17 points per contest for the No. 4 Lions, who have a tough combination of good guard play and post play. Danielle Mayer, who transferred from Mount View of Thorndike last summer, and Joanna Mehuren combine for 16 ppg.

Kaitlin Murphy and Mehuren combine for 11.7 rpg. Mayer is averaging almost five assists per game.

No. 5 Rockland has had one of its best seasons in recent memory under coach Karen Bickmore. The Tigers are led by Annie Pennell, who has been averaging about 12 points and seven rebounds per game.

Meanwhile, the team Camden Hills could face in the quarterfinals could provide a challenge, according to Barker.

No. 7 Hermon used a huge late-season surge to climb in the standings. Powered by senior guard Jessica Wiggin, the Hawks finished the regular-season with a 6-1 run.

“Beware of that team,” Barker said. “They have strong rebounding, solid defense, and [Wiggin] can handle the ball against pressure.”

The Hawks will have to face No. 10 Ellsworth in a preliminary game. The teams split in the regular season.

Caribou, Fort Kent, Houlton and Winslow will also be in preliminary games. Fort Kent and Houlton played twice in the regular season with the Warriors edging the Vikings in both matchups.