A home preliminary game is nice. It provides an opportunity for the Lewiston girls’ basketball team to play before the home fans one last time.

Still, Tuesday night’s game isn’t what the Blue Devils have been working for all season long.

“You don’t want to go (to the playoffs) and just have one game at home,” said Lewiston coach Jim Hood. “You want to go to the Bangor Auditorium and you want to stay there as long as you can.

“We want to get up there and stay as long as we can and make it a positive experience like those we’ve had in the past.”

Last year, the Blue Devils finished sixth overall in Western A with a 13-5 record. Lewiston went on to beat higher-ranked Westbrook and Deering before losing in the regional final. In its first go-around in Eastern A this year, Lewiston ranks third with a 15-3 mark

“I think we we’ve done pretty well,” said Hood. “I still think that there’s a lot more basketball in our kids. I still don’t think we’ve gelled together yet, and I hope we’re still on the peaking end of it.”

It is the highest seeding for the Blue Devils since being No. 1 in 2000. With losses to just Cony, Skowhegan and Messalonskee, Lewiston has a more favorable path ahead this year. With a 6:30 p.m. prelim against Old Town (4-14) Tuesday night, Lewiston might play the winner of the Bangor-Brunswick prelim in Friday’s 3:05 p.m. quarterfinal in Bangor.

“I think we’re in a little better position than last year,” said Hood. “We still have to go out and prove ourselves.

“Last year we were the underdogs. This year we may still be the underdogs, but we’re in the third spot.”

Before thinking about the Bangor Auditorium, however, the Blue Devils have to take care of Old Town. Two of Old Town’s wins came against Nokomis and Morse, two teams Lewiston beat.

Old Town is led by sisters Kristi and Leona Mitchell in the post and guard Hannah Marquis. They’re not a team with great size. So Lewiston should match up well with them.

Old Town is not an offensive powerhouse and will need a strong defensive game against the Blue Devils. An experienced core of starters in Katie Morin, Amanda Bryant, Tracy Bradley, Kelsey Varney and Caitlin Anthoine should make for a formidable foe for the Indians.

“We have good floor speed, and we can utilize that,” said Hood. “Whether they go to a zone or a man-to-man, we’re pretty good at being able to adapt.”

The Mt. Blue girls finished ninth overall at 12-6, putting them in a prelim Tuesday at eighth-ranked Gardiner (13-5). The winner gets a game with top-ranked Cony Saturday afternoon in Bangor.

“I was hoping after beating Bangor that that would have bumped us up to eighth,” said Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Beaulieu. “We were hoping to be flip-flopped so we could play at home.”

Mt. Blue finished with three straight wins and seven in its last eight, finishing at 12-6 after going 5-14 last year.

“So we were pretty close to where I hoped that we’d be,” said Beaulieu, who figured the Cougars could win as many as 13 games. “From last year to this year, we’ve had quite a turnaround.”

The Cougars hope to keep that trend going Tuesday. Mt. Blue lost in Presque Isle in last year’s prelim round. So a trip to Gardiner isn’t so bad, especially considering the Cougars played Gardiner tough the first time around in Farmington. The Tigers managed to eke out a 52-51 win in the second game of the season.

Amy Mansir led the Cougars with 20 points in that game while Christina Mosher added 10. Becky Dixon paced Gardiner with 18.

“We exchanged the lead a couple of times, and we were pretty close at the end of the game,” said Beaulieu.

The Cougars have improved greatly since that early season game and hope to continue its steady progress Tuesday.

“I think the win over Bangor did a lot for us,” said Beaulieu. “We got the early lead and kept it which is something we’ve struggled to do. With Bangor we jumped out well and stayed ahead. I think they got within 10 once in the second quarter, and we got up to an 18 or 20-point lead. I hope that did a lot for us both offensively and defensively.”

Both Gardiner and Mt. Blue have improved and may have a few new wrinkles to their game since they last met. The play of Mansir, Mosher and Heather Groder, who finished strong for the Cougars, should give Mt. Blue an edge in the paint. Gardiner also lost in last year’s prelim, losing to Oxford Hills in overtime.

” I think they’re a team in the same boat as we are,” said Beaulieu. “They’ve had their ups and downs. They’re still looking for a complete game. My guess is that they were able to put it together in one game like we did.”