Bangor High School made seven appearances in the Class A state championship game during a 12-year span between 1992 and 2003 – winning six of those finals and the gold balls that were the spoils of those victories.

That streak means that the three years since the Rams’ last title in 2003 almost represents a drought, something coach Roger Reed’s club hopes to end this winter.

There are many who believe that may happen, and for good reason. Bangor returns all five starters and the bulk of its roster from last year’s team, which lost in overtime to Hampden Academy in the Eastern A quarterfinals.

That marked the third consecutive year the Rams fell to the eventual regional champion in postseason play – Brunswick in 2004 and Hampden in 2005 and 2006.

This year the Rams already have been picked to return to the top of the Eastern Maine boys basketball ranks in a poll of Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference coaches.

But the only poll that counts, according to Reed, are the 18 game regular-season schedule and the tournament itself.

“Talent alone doesn’t do it,” said Reed, now in his 22nd year on the Bangor bench. “You’ve got to prove it day in and day out on the court. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be.”

Bangor fields a roster of six seniors and 10 juniors. Alex Gallant, a 6-foot-4 senior, and 6-foot-5 junior Ryan Weston lead the frontcourt, while senior point guard Troy Jellison and juniors Jon McAllian, Billy Zolper and Lee Suvlu anchor a tall and athletic backcourt.

“I think we’re going to be a deep team, a very good team to coach,” said Reed. “We have the potential to be a team with good balance between outside scoring and inside scoring.”

Other top contenders in the region include Mt. Blue of Farmington, Gardiner, Edward Little of Auburn, Brunswick, Lawrence of Fairfield, Messalonskee of Oakland and Cony of Augusta.

Mt. Blue starts five seniors, led by forward Isaiah Brathwaite, center Adam Gilbert and guards Art Trask and Noah Paytas.

“The seniors have a heavy burden on them this year,” said veteran coach Jim Bessey, who began the season with 393 career victories. “They have the responsibility to show up and lead the way. We’re a veteran team, and I think we’ll go as far as the seniors take us.”

Gardiner has endured plenty of turmoil already this season. Dana Doran, who guided the Tigers to an EM semifinal berth last winter, is no longer coaching the team, having resigned after a controversy involving his institution of a team hair code.

Pat McNally, the father of University of Maine-bound center Sean McNally, coached the team in its season-opening win over Erskine Academy of South China, but Gardiner was without Sean McNally in that game as the 6-8 center was sidelined with an ankle injury.

When McNally does returns, Gardiner will field a formidable lineup. McNally, a Bangor Daily News All-Maine choice last year, provides the inside presence for the Tigers, while junior Kyle Stilphen is a third-year starter at point guard.

Edward Little boasts an All-Maine player of its own in 6-7 senior forward Troy Barnies, who also has verbally committed to Maine, and coach Mike Adams’ club is hungry after earning a top-five seed in the region last winter only to be knocked off by Cony in the preliminary round.

Brunswick, which fell to Hampden in last year’s final, will be led by the inside-outside combination of senior center Travis O’Dell and senior guard Corey Underwood. Lawrence, coming off a state championship season in football, is a tough-nosed defensive team led by guards Aaron Champagne and Jay Dangler, while Messalonskee has a talented center in senior Eric Taylor. Cony, which upended Edward Little in last year’s preliminary round, graduated just two seniors off that roster.

“The teams that exhibit the most depth will probably be the ones that have success in the postseason,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson, “as each team seems to have one or two upper-echelon players, followed by extreme parity from there on out.”

As for the two-time defending Eastern A champions, Hampden features a mix of youth and experience, as its roster includes two returning starters and four freshmen.

The Broncos feature one of the region’s top players in senior guard Dan McCue, a fourth-year starter for coach Russ Bartlett’s club, and classmate Evan Farley, a defensive specialist last year.

And while replacing three starters – including 6-10 center Jordan Cook and guard J Uhrin, both now on the University of Maine roster – will be difficult, but Bartlett sees room for growth between now and tournament time.

“Where we are now is light years ahead of where we were,” he said. “And I see a good up-side with this group.”

Old Town enters what is likely its last year in Class A with a blend of seniors and juniors, including five returning players in Dillon Clark, Josh Clukey, Corey Fournier, Mamadou Ba and Ethan Shanley.

Brewer will field a youthful team this winter, with five sophomores and two freshmen among a 13-player roster anchored by veterans Ryan Babin, Brad Libby and Ben Valley. Nokomis of Newport is similarly rebuilding, its losses from a year ago including three players who transferred.