After two straight trips to the Class D state championship game, Bangor Christian’s reign atop the Eastern Maine small school heap may be over.

There are several teams eager and well-suited to end it as the with 2003-04 season under way.

Central Aroostook of Mars Hill; Katahdin of Sherman Station; East Grand of Danforth; Jonesport-Beals; Hodgdon, which moves from the Class C to Class D ranks this season; and a team Bangor Christian has become very familiar with, Calvary Chapel Christian Academy of Orrington, all stand ready to knock the Patriots off the top of the hill.

Why does this seem to be the year the rest of the pack will catch up to the Patriots? Two reasons: Bangor Christian has become weaker while its opponents have grown stronger.

The Patriots had two starters returning along with a few key reserves, but one of those starters and a reserve opted to transfer to Calvary Chapel, which benefited from the transfer of a pair of Patriots players the previous season – its first as a varsity basketball team.

That influx of talent to the Calvary Chapel Sabers has made them one of the favorites on the Eastern Maine Class D hoops scene.

The Sabers return starting guards and brothers Brock Bradford and Kyle Bradford, forward Tyler Gans, and center Chris McDonald. The other starter is BC transfer Josh Madden, a 6-foot-1 scoring guard who ironically helped end Calvary’s season last February with a big 3-pointer in the final minutes of Bangor Christian’s 62-55 tournament quarterfinal victory.

Joining Madden is junior guard Mike Astle, who figures to join the starting lineup and more than expand Calvary’s depth. Forward Chris Phillips, who was a part-time starter last season, will also grab a lot of minutes along with McDonald.

“God’s been good to us. We can go with eight solid players in our rotation,” said Calvary coach Ross Bradford, whose Sabers went 13-4 last season and earned the No. 2 seeding in the tournament.

“It really couldn’t have worked any better of us last season,” added Bradford, Kyle and Brock’s father.

The little school’s success on the court has overflowed off the court as the school enrollment has gone from 32 to 60.

Bangor Christian’s opponent in the semifinals, Central Aroostook, returns all five starters and features even more depth than last season.

In addition to depth, the perimeter-shooting and pressing Panthers have plenty of offensive firepower, experience, and versatility.

“We really don’t have a forward or a center because everyone can play either position,” said coach Tim Brewer. “Because of that, we can do a lot of things on offense and defense.”

The starters are senior forward-guard Brian Grew, senior center Patrick Walsh, junior point guard Jason Woodworth, and sophomore guard-forwards Andrew York and Taylor McLaughlin.

The Panthers will also call on 6-3 senior center Adam Crew, who missed much of last season with a knee injury, freshman guards Tim Carlson and Sam Clockedile, and senior guard Jeff Clockedile. Sophomore guard Eric Martinez is out indefinitely with a torn meniscus.

If the Panthers address their greatest weakness, rebounding, they should be a solid contender and extend their tournament season streak to 13.

East Grand’s Vikings are no stranger to the tournament or the semifinal and final rounds. This season shapes up as another one in which they contend for a regional title as they feature more depth and better size than last year’s Eastern Maine runner-up squad.

“Our first seven are all varsity players and we still have talent on our bench, but it’s very young,” said coach Troy Cilley, whose Vikings have been to the finals twice in the last three seasons.

The Vikings are led by senior guard and four-year starter Darius Parker, senior forward Eric Hanington, senior guard Seth Preston, junior forward Mike Hanington, and junior center Matthew Scott. Junior forward Brent Byers, who shed 30 pounds since his summer hoops season, and 6-4 senior center-forward Josh Faulkner will also get plenty of time.

“I like our inside game. It’s a return to a formula we used pretty successfully when we went to the east and state finals a few years ago,” Cilley said.

A tournament mainstay, Jonesport-Beals expects to be back in the tourney again this season, but to do that, head coach Ordie Alley must first find a point guard to replaced graduated Ben Durkee.

“We desperately need someone to take care of the ball for us,” said Alley. “We need someone to bring the ball down and then distribute it.”

Alley started out with 5-11 senior shooting guard Abraham Beal switching to the point, but that experiment had to be scrapped. He has two other candidates to audition.

“I think we’ll be fine with what we have and we’ll be better than what we are now,” Alley said.

The Royals feature lots of rebounding prowess, experience, and depth with 10 players in the rotation, seven of them seniors including Beal, Derrick Beal, Jeremy Chandler, Michael Berry, Kyle Lamson, Martin Alley and Erik Balchen.