Last year, schedule strength forced the Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners and Central Aroostook Panthers to take a circuitous route to a regional championship confrontation.

This year, it looks like the two unbeaten boys teams have a more direct path to a regional rematch in the Eastern Maine Class D title game.

It says a lot about the quality of the Eastern Class D tourney field that a potential Deer Isle-Stonington/Central Aroostook of Mars Hill matchup, while desired and even expected by many, is by no means a sure thing.

“Having the top seed lose would be an upset, for sure, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” said CAHS coach Tim Brewer. “I don’t know if it can get any tougher than last year, but it’s not easy either. Any of those teams can beat another.”

Glenn Billings, coach of the DI-S Mariners, agrees.

“Just like last year, there are no sure-thing wins in this tournament,” Billings said. “I think it’s as deep a group of good teams as any other class.”

The Panthers and Mariners are the favorites, but there’s no overlooking teams such as Schenck of East Millinocket, a top-ranked team in recent Heal point standings with arguably one of the most difficult regular season schedules among all D teams; Lee Academy; Washburn; Calvary Chapel Christian Academy of Orrington; Limestone Community School/Maine School of Science and Mathematics; Woodland, and Van Buren.

The Panthers are trying to win their third straight regional and state titles. After graduating two starters, one of them their leading scorer, last year, one might think a three-peat would face long odds, especially when the top contenders either remained just as solid or improved in the offseason. That might be the case for Central Aroostook if not for the preseason addition of athletic 6-foot-7 center Silas Kelley, who transferred from Greater Houlton Christian Academy.

“He’s the difference. He’s the one guy teams really don’t have an answer for,” said Brewer.

So much for that “break-in period” where Kelley works himself into the lineup and he and his new teammates struggle to all get on the same page. The Panthers have finished the regular season unbeaten.

“We’ve spent a lot of time this season on working Silas into the system,” Brewer said. “Defensively, he’s made a huge impact. We’ve never had a shot blocker. If we had a weakness, interior defense was it.”

It certainly wasn’t in the perimeter or transition game with junior guard Cameron York, senior guard Tim Carlson, junior guard-forward Sam Clockedile, and sophomore Manny Martinez running the show. Logan McCarthy is a solid forward off the bench.

“We’re a hard team to guard. The last few games, almost all our starters are averaging double digits in points,” Brewer said. “I loosened the reins a bit and they’ve responded well, although sometimes we forget about Silas, believe it or not.”

For the Panthers, there’s no forgetting the Mariners. Central Aroostook destroyed the Mariners in the regional final last year, but nobody’s expecting a repeat.

“We actually learned a lot in that loss last year. We relied too much on our half-court game,” said Billings. “A lot of teams have gone zone against us this year thinking they could get us from getting to the rim and making us shoot more from outside. We’ve become a much better perimeter team.”

They’ve become a much deeper team, too.

The Mariners are led by senior guard Bryant Ciomei (21.0 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 steals), brother and 6-3 junior center Colin Ciomei (14.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 3.3 apg), 6-0 forward Shane Eaton (11.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg), 6-2 senior forward John Eaton (7.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg), 6-0 senior point guard Rob Brown (7.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg), 6-1 sophomore swingman Eban Powers (9.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and backup guard Dean Siebert..

The Mariners are also experienced, mature, and tournament-tested.

“I think the boys having been there and playing a few games on the floor and understanding the caliber of the other teams there and what it’s all about is a big advantage,” Billings said. “I think another thing fueling these guys, too, is the fact that this is the last year for four of our guys…. They know.”