This wasn’t supposed to be the way Lee Academy’s 2004-05 regular season went.

When you graduate four of five starters from a regional title team, undergo your second coaching change in a year, and pin your hopes on returning to the regional finals for a fourth straight year on the rapid development of three freshman and a sophomore, you kind of expect the road back to the tournament to be a very bumpy and rough one.

Well, the Pandas did indeed manage to follow the road signs and navigate all the twists and turns to set up a return to Bangor, but the route has been a lot smoother than anyone expected.

“I thought we’d get beat somewhere along the line, maybe a game or two,” said Lee girls coach Ron Weatherbee. “We’re young and a loss wouldn’t have hurt, but it’s good.”

Weatherbee credits the leadership of senior star athlete Shelby Pickering, the quick maturation of the young players, and the development of other offensive threats to complement Pickering for the Pandas’ unbeaten regular season.

“Our freshmen grew up in a hurry,” he said. “I think it’s a carryover from the success we’ve had in basketball and soccer in particular. They’ve grown accustomed to winning.”

The starting five consist of lone senior Pickering (17.5 points per game), a center with guard skills; freshman Aarika Ritchie (9.0 ppg) at point guard; freshman Amanda Gifford (7.0 ppg) at off-guard, freshman Karin Bird (8.0 ppg) at forward, and junior Kerri Harris at forward. Key reserves are junior guard Jackie Moors and freshman forward Dana Houghton.

Pickering’s unselfishness, and the ability of players like Moors and Ritchie to shoulder some of the scoring load have prevented teams from ganging up on Pickering.

“We’ve had a number of different people who have stepped up to score 10, 12, eight points, so it doesn’t have to be Shelby against the entire other team,” Weatherbee said.

“We haven’t seen a lot of junk defenses this year. We’ve seen man-to-man, 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones mostly,” Weatherbee said. “I think it’s because we do well in transition and defensively. Our defense has helped us get our transition game going for some easy baskets.”

The road to Bangor may have another stop in the form of a preliminary game, but even if it doesn’t, Weatherbie doesn’t have any illusions about the Eastern Maine Class D tournament being as easy or easier than the regular season.

“Ashland and Southern Aroostook look good because of their spots and they’ve proven they’re decent,” he said. “And Greenville is a pretty good, versatile team. Actually, they all scare me, but those three you know are going to come in ready to play.”

The Southern Aroostook Warriors of Dyer Brook once again find themselves at or near the top of the Heal point heap, but this year, they appear even more formidable.

The Warriors return three starters from a team that was the No. 1 seed going into last season’s quarterfinal round. An upset loss to No. 8 Katahdin of Stacyville makes them even more motivated and focused this time around.

Still, the Warriors have at least one hurdle to leap over.

Sophomore forward Kristinn Watson broke a bone in her left foot last week and may be lost for another 3-5 weeks, although she thinks she’ll be back faster.

The leaves SAHS’s rotation looking like senior Mindy Watson at the point, junior Audrey Charette (16.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) at forward, sophomore Kaylea Collier (9.0 ppg) at guard, sophomore Erin Caswell (8.0 rpg) at the other forward spot, senior reserve Makenzie Hardy at guard, and junior guard-forwards Carmen McLaughlin and Amanda Clark.

“For us to make a run, we have to play solid man-to-man defense, score points off transition and make sure we don’t play someone else’s style of game all game long,” said Warriors coach Jon Porter.

The Ashland Hornets ended the regular season with a tough loss to Class C foe Limestone, but they are the only team to put a loss in Southern Aroostook’s win-loss column despite starting two freshmen.

“Ashland has potential to do some damage as well with kids who are starting to mature in their positions,” Porter said. “The top five or six teams have their strengths and weaknesses and even the lower seeds look pretty scary,” Porter said.

Shead of Eastport has size and experience as well as an ability to peak at the right time, and if the Tigers can control the boards, they can frustrate anyone. Central Aroostook of Mars Hill features excellent perimeter shooting and, if hot, could knock anyone off. The Panthers hit 13 against Easton. Larry Gardner’s Fort Fairfield girls played well down the stretch and have two big assets: size and athleticism.

The Hodgdon Hawks weathered an early season coaching change when Wendy Ivey moved to Texas and was replaced by Jill Mathers-Pisano, a former Southern Aroostook star player, and have moved into the top six. They threw a scare into the Warriors before losing by four points late in the regular season.