It’s hard not to perceive the chase for this year’s Eastern Maine Class B boys basketball title as anything but a two-team race.

Defending champion Camden Hills of Rockport returns three stellar starters in junior forward Gordon Fischer and senior guards Paul Campbell and Christian Pieri.

The Windjammers also have one of their deepest squads in Jeff Hart’s long coaching tenure, not to mention the tradition of having won four state championships and six regional titles in the last 10 years.

So who would be surprised if Camden Hills celebrates again come March? Not the Windjammers.

“I know some coaches don’t want to be the favorite, but I love it, and I think the kids like it,” said Hart. “I can’t wait for the season to start when you have years like this, because the expectations are high, and I think it just makes you work harder. It makes you practice even harder because you want to live up to the expectations you put on ourselves.

“And around here we’ve had such a good tradition and it’s helped us get through some tough times, because the kids expect to win. That’s a good thing, I think.”

Camden Hills is not the overwhelming favorite to repeat only because of the presence of Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B rival Maranacook, which won the 2006 state championship but played without guard Will Bardaglio in last year’s quarterfinals and was upended by No. 8 Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield.

But Maranacook returns the nucleus of its 2006 title run in two-time All-Maine guard Ryan Martin, point guard Mike Poulin and the sharpshooting Bardaglio, and that trio gives coach Rob Schmidt’s club plenty of ammunition to return to the championship level.

Class B also has gotten much bigger this winter, with four new teams bringing the total to 22. That means only the No. 1 seed will draw a preliminary-round bye into the quarterfinals.

The newcomers include two KVAC entries down from Class A in Gardiner and Erskine Academy of South China, as well as Old Town moving down to the Big East Class B ranks and Central of Corinth moving up from Class C.

Gardiner graduated 6-foot-8 center Sean McNally to the University of Maine but returns senior point guard Kyle Stilphen to lead a solid stable of veterans, several of whom are coming off a state championship football season. Erskine Academy also figures to be more competitive back in the Class B ranks.

Other KVAC contenders could include Rockland, Mount View of Thorndike and a Belfast team that returns eight letterwinners, led by third-year starters Jake Arthers, Ben Felton and Yates Murphy.

Old Town has seven letterwinners back from last year’s team, led by smooth-shooting 6-5 senior center Ethan Shanley, junior forward Colin Ziegenbein and senior guard Mamadou Ba.

“I hope we can at least get into the preliminaries. That’s a goal after being out of it the last couple of years in ‘A,'” said veteran Old Town coach Marty Clark. “I look for us somewhere in the middle of the pack. I know there are some great teams, Camden Hills, Maranacook, and up here there’s Mattanawcook, John Bapst, Presque Isle, Caribou, Hermon. There’s so much balance, I don’t want to leave anybody out because I think anybody can beat anybody.”

The last non-KVAC coach to win an Eastern Maine Class B championship is Rick Sinclair, who turned the trick while at Hermon in 2000 and nearly earned a second title last year before his Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln team dropped a 61-60 decision to Camden Hills in the regional final.

The Lynx return a strong nucleus this winter that may be more explosive offensively than last year’s team.

“This year we have more weapons,” said Sinclair.

The primary weapon is senior guard Derek Libbey, an all-tourney choice last year who is coming off a strong summer when he was the leading scorer on a team of Maine schoolboy standouts that finished 11th in their age group at the AAU nationals – the best finish ever for a Maine team.

“Derek is really smart, he has a real high basketball IQ,” said Sinclair. “He always seems to be thinking one play ahead, and that’s what separates a kid with good skills from a great player.”

Libbey is one of four senior starters for MA, along with 6-4 Tyler White, 6-3 Jeremy Langevin and swingman Jake Smith. They are joined by junior Brady Vose, who complements Libbey offensively.

“Our No. 1 priority is to be as competitive as we can in the Big East, and it’s that play that lines you up for the postseason,” said Sinclair.

MA faces what should be a competitive Big East regular-season schedule.

Caribou, which finished fourth in the final Heal point ratings last year, returns a pair of playmakers in Kyle Corrigan and Jarryd Rossignol. Aroostook County rival Presque Isle features one of the top low-post threats in the region in Adam Kingsbury as well as talented junior Russ Mortland.

Along the coast, Ellsworth and Mount Desert Island boast rich traditions as well as new coaches in Peter Austin and Justin Norwood, respectively.

Greater Bangor also has a pair of tournament contenders in John Bapst of Bangor and Hermon. John Bapst features several players coming off a trip to the Eastern Maine final in football and has considerable balance with 6-7 Ethan Cushman and Charlie Merritt up front and Aaron Healey and Kyle Gallant on the perimeter.

Hermon graduated much of its frontcourt but returns a talented backcourt in Colton Gross, Derek Helms and Kevin Tarr.