With six state titles in the last 11 years – including three of the last four seasons – Bangor High School has established itself firmly at the top of the Class A schoolboy basketball ranks.

“I still think that Eastern Maine A runs through Bangor,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson. “They have proven time and time again that once they get to the tournament, they are ready and able to take on all comers.”

Key to that success has been the ability of coach Roger Reed and his staff to cope with the inevitable graduation losses from year to year.

Just two starters graduated from last season’s team, but Mr. Maine Basketball Zak Ray and Wes Day represented perhaps the best backcourt in the state.

“One of the things we’ve got to do is replace an excellent basketball player in Zak Ray and a great shooter in Wesley Day,” said Reed. “We need to fill those slots.”

That task will fall to a pair of talented juniors, Jordan Heath and Aaron Gallant. Both played pivotal support roles in Bangor’s run to the 2003 state championship, but this year will be asked to step up to prime-time duty.

“Jordan and Aaron are two guys who will really have to play big for us,” Reed said. “They did last year. They were invaluable in the Eastern Maine tournament and the state game, and now their role has changed. They’re not playing off two great players, they’re going to have to be the two players who step up and help everybody else reach that next level of play.”

Both Heath and Gallant give the Rams great versatility. The 5-foot-10 Heath is penciled in as the Rams’ point guard, though off-guard is probably his most natural position.

“Jordan’s probably one of the best shooters in the entire state, just an unbelievable shooter,” Reed said. “If we can find the answer so that we can let him be a scorer for us, it would be golden, but right now we’ve got to find a way to do that.”

Gallant, at 5-11, did much of his work on the interior during last year’s tournament run, but like Heath has 3-point shooting range.

“Aaron is a warrior,” Reed said. “He’s one of those guys who’s going to go out every night and guard the toughest guy on the floor, and he’s going to be expected to score for us and do other things, too, but he can do that.”

Gallant and Heath will team will a deep corps of frontcourt players that include seniors P.J. Dowe, Kevin Flynn and Mike Prentiss and junior swingman Anthony Derosa.

“We have good athleticism,” said Reed. I think we’ll defend well. We’re working on some things right now, but I think we’ll be a good team before the year is out.”

Chief among Bangor’s challengers in the Big East Conference may be crosstown rival Brewer. The Witches gained their first tournament victory since 1996 by defeating Oxford Hills in last year’s Eastern A quarterfinals, but coach Mark Reed returns just one starter in senior guard Andy Frost.

“Andy has a significant amount of experience playing in big games,” said Reed. “He played in some big games when he played with Calais [as a freshman and sophomore] and he’s played in some big games for us as well.

“When he’s on the court he plays with tremendous energy. The one thing we need him to bring to us is his focus and intensity on what it is our team needs to win.”

Brewer will be fairly young, with just two seniors among the top seven in the Witches’ rotation. Other key perimeter players are junior Isaac Bell, sophomore Chris Wilson and senior Jeff Miller. The Witches’ “post by committee” will be handled by 6-4 senior Eric Young, 6-3 junior Drew Francis and 6-2 junior Justin MacDonald.

“I’m hopeful in a lot of ways,” said Reed. “But 10 of the 15 kids we have are new to me, so I have to have to balance the expectations of what the season may hold for us with knowing that it will take some time to get us where we need to be.”

Hampden Academy, guided by first-year head coach Russ Bartlett, has reason for optimism with a young, evolving team featuring 6-7 center Jordan Cook, one of three sophomores set to start for the Broncos.

Classmates Jay Uhrin, a point guard, and 6-41/2 forward Sam Hodgdon are joined by juniors Josh McNutt and Blaine Meehan in the starting lineup, with Pat Moran the sixth man.

“How well we take care of the basketball and defensive rebounding will be two major keys for us,” said Bartlett.

Old Town boasts five senior letterwinners that veteran coach Marty Clark hopes will lead the Indians back to a tournament berth. Center Tyler Tracewski is a returning All-Big East player, with point guard Matt Curtis and swingman Matt Petrie other key performeers.

“There’ll be a lot of games that go to the wire,” said Clark. “There’s so much balance in the league. There may be 10 to 14 games that go that way , and it’s just a question of whether we can win the close ones.”

Nokomis must deal with heavy graduation losses, including Mr. Maine Basketball finalist Ryan McLellan and fellow 1,000-point scorer Lucas Hayden.

John Bapst has nine players, including all five starters, back from a year ago, led by senior forward Dan Myerowitz and senior guard Alex Means.

“We have everyone back, but that doesn’t guarantee success,” said Crusaders coach Jason Mills. “There are no nights off in our league.”

While Bangor ranks as the defending state champion, Brunswick ranks as the preseason favorite in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A ranks.

The Dragons, who won the 2002 state Class A title, feature everyone’s favorite for Mr. Maine Basketball, 6-3 senior guard Ralph Mims. The first-team NEWS All-Maine choice, being heavily recruited by a number of major Division I programs, is Brunswick’s career scoring leader with 1,200 points in three years.

Mims will have a new supporting cast, as the other four starters graduated from the 2003 team that fell to Bangor in the regional final. Joining Mims at guard will be 6-0 junior Justin Gauvin, while 6-1 junior Jesse Kaplan, 6-2 senior Phil Warren and 6-4 junior Kevin Scully are the likely frontcourt starters.

Lawrence has qualified for postseason play in 19 of the last 20 years under veteran coach Mike McGee. This year’s club is led by guards Nate Lambert and Chris Dennis, both third-year starters, and 6-3 senior Trevor Woods, one of the better big men in the conference.