By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

A year ago their bags were packed.

They weren’t stowed away for a trip to Bangor. Their gear was collected and put away. By this time last year, the Oxford Hills girls’ basketball season was over.

That’s not the case this year. The Vikings (13-5) were ranked seventh in the final Eastern Class A Heal Point standings that were released Saturday. Oxford Hills will host 10th-ranked Brunswick Tuesday night in a preliminary game that will send the winner to the Bangor Auditorium.

“We’re thrilled to have a 19th game, which we didn’t get last year,” said Oxford Hills coach Craig Jipson. “We’re so excited to get there because after the way we played Cony and Bangor. We’ve got a chance to beat anybody on a given night.”

Cony (18-0) was the top seed, with Skowhegan (16-2) and Bangor (16-2) second and third respectively.

Fourth-ranked Mt. Blue earned its highest ranking since being the top seed in 2000. The Cougars (15-3) will host John Bapst in Tuesday’s prelim.

“I have a young team,” said Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Paradis. “I have a slew of sophomores and a handful of upper classmen. To finish 15-3 is really good for us. People didn’t expect us to be 15-3, but they did expect us to be up there.”

Lewiston finished eighth overall at 11-7. The Blue Devils, who made it to Bangor last year and lost to the Bangor Rams in the quarterfinals, host Hampden Tuesday.

Oxford Hills opened the season with six straight wins before losing to Messalonskee. Though the Vikings hovered near or on top of the Eastern A standings at various times this season, Jipson is pleased with a seventh-place ranking.

“We played well,” said Jipson. “We didn’t lose to any teams with a losing record all year. We were playing consistently. We had a tough schedule down the stretch playing Mt. Blue and Lewiston away. We only lost two games in a row once all year. It’s been up and down, but we’re happy.”

The 13 wins are the most for the Vikings since going 15-3 in 2001 and 2002. Though the Vikings lost to playoff contenders Cony, Skowhegan, Messalonskee, Mt. Blue and Lewiston, the Oxford Hills did beat third-ranked Bangor.

“In my six years here, Bangor is the team with the best record we’ve ever beaten,” said Jipson. “They’re the highest seeded team that we’ve ever won a game against. That carried us a long way. It got us a home game.”

Lewiston started the year 0-4, but came on strong down the stretch. The Blue Devils have now reached double figures in wins nine of the last 10 seasons and 12 of the last 14.

Mt. Blue went 12-6 last year and lost in the prelim to Gardiner. The Cougars lost just three players from that squad and posted the most wins in a season since Mt. Blue won 15 and 18 regular-season games respectively during back-to-back state championships.

Though the Cougars are still a team built around young players, Paradis has seen her team grow steadily.

“We had a really good last couple of games,” she said. “I’d like to say that they’re peaking. We still young, but they’ve been playing hard. They know that if they bust their butts for 32 minutes, that they can earn themselves another 32 minutes.”