Can a team that doesn’t have a starter over 6-feet-1 win the Eastern Maine Class C tournament?

Can teams come up with the defensive effort to out-defense one of Eastern Maine’s best defensive teams?

Can a team that has struggled through the distractions of local economic strife get focused enough to make a title run?

And will a coach, who after 18 games still doesn’t know what his team is capable of, have that question answered?

A crystal ball isn’t necessary to answer those questions. The tourney should answer them for us.

Coach Tony Hamlin has his Penquis Valley team sold on defense, defense and more defense. Hamlin is without a starter taller than 6-feet-1, yet the Patriots of Milo have played well enough to finish with the tourney’s top seed but their 16-2 record includes a win over Class B power Foxcroft Academy.

“We probably surprised some people because we’re not the most talented team in the league. But I think that whenwe play defense the way we’re capable of we can make it uncomfortable for teams,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin says that any of his core of seven players can step up an lead them offensively on a given night.

The group includes seniors Steve Kissell, Colby Chase and Brandon McKenzie, brothers Dustin and Devin Perkins and Jordan and Justin Allen.

Justin Allen leads the team’s defensive sets.

“Justin Allen is one helluva defensive player,” Hamlin said. “He is probably the best defensive player I’ve had in 27 years.”

The Patriots will play the winner of the Hodgdon and Schenck of East Millinocket preliminary game in the quarterfinals.

Hamlin, while acknowledging his team could be in the thick of the title chase, gives the nod to George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill.

Like Hamlin’s Patriots, Matt Mattson’s third-seeded Eagles take a defense first philosophy. Also playing to their advantage is experience on the Bangor Auditorium floor. Mattson said that four of his five starters have played in six tourney games in Bangor.

“Every kid on the floor seems to be playing good defense. We’re going to be hard to beat,” Mattson said. “To beat us someone is going to have to equal our defensive effort and shoot well.”

GSA is led by the versatile senior Nick Henry who has the ability to shoot from long range and to take the ball to the basket.

“Nick is solid all around. He rebounds and plays good defense. We have a solid team. I’ve got 10 seniors. We’ve been playing really well over the last nine games. We’re playing extremely well defensively,” Mattson said.

GSA awaits the winner of the Washington Academy of East Machias and Calais preliminary game.

Washington Academy coach Chad Fitzsimmons is looking for some consistency in his team’s play. “We started off the season strong and we’ve been up and down the last six or seven games,” Fitzsimmons said.

The Raiders finished the season at 11-7. They are led by juniors Whitney Stevens and Jared Gray who Fitzsimmons said are both averaging near 20 points per game.

Fitzsimmons, despite the inconsistent play, believes his team can advance in the tourney. “Anything’s possible. I think we proved we can play with them down here,” the coach said.

Stearns of Millinocket coach Mike Portwine and his talented Minutemen have been forced to deal with the shut down of the town’s major employer. “They were all affected by it. I think almost every kid on the team had someone who worked there,” Portwine said.

Still, the Minutemen finished with a 12-6 record, including handing GSA one of its two losses.

“We’re playing with confidence,” Portwine said. “We’ve beaten almost every team in the tournament. We feel we’re right in the thick of it and we feel we can win it just as much as anyone else can.”

If so, Stearns is going to need steady play from guard Derek DiFrederico who torched GSA for 36 points in a game at Millinocket this year. The Minutemen also rely heavily on the play of 6-1 forward Kevin McLaughlin who works the lane well and attacks the basket.

Stearns will meet the winner of the Piscataquis of Guilford and Sumner of East Sullivan preliminary game in the quarterfinals.

Piscataquis coach Jamie Russell said his team is still a mystery to him after 18 games. “I don’t know what to expect now any more than I did at the beginning of the season,” Russell said.

The Pirates are 9-9 and have had a “roller coaster” of a season, according to their coach.

“I don’t know if we’ve won two games in a row or lost two games in a row all year. We’ve won games we should have won like at Foxcroft and lost games we shouldn’t have,” Russell said.

The Pirates are led by 6-3 senior Tyler Tracy who averages 11 ppg and six rebounds. Russell said Tracy also defends the opposition’s best player.