The Buckfield girls’ basketball team had plenty to live up to this season.

After dominating Western D and claiming the regional championship, the Bucks hoped to continue that success this year, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

The Bucks graduated three players from that 21-1 squad, lost starter Ashlee Hamann to a knee injury and was in transition of sorts with a new coach.

“It was different for the girls,” said coach Dan Jack, who assisted Troy Eastman last year. “They’ve been coached by Troy, a lot of them since the third or fourth grade. When you throw someone new in their senior year, it’s different.

“But I think right now, we’re all on the same page. I think we’re working together real well. It really has taken the year since we did the summer program in July.”

The Bucks went 16-2 and earned their second straight No. 1 seed. They did so despite losing Hamann, who was Western D’s top player in the tournament last year. She suffered an ACL injury against Valley in January and had surgery last week.

“We had to regroup after Ashlee,” said Jack. “Her and Lindsay Henderson are the two quickest players on the team. She was an all-tournament player in Augusta. Her credibility and what she can do for us, she was a big loss. The young girls, like the sophomores, really had to step up. Right now, we’re playing real well. I feel good about our chances, but it won’t be easy.”

Buckfield draws the winner of the Richmond-Greenville preliminary game. The other quarterfinal in that bracket pits fifth-ranked Rangeley (12-6) against fourth-seeded Vinalhaven (14-4). The Lakers lost both games to the Vikings but have won six of their last seven games.

In Eastern A, Edward Little took the second seed and will playits first game in Augusta since 2006. Only EL’s four seniors – Karen Leary, Alyssa Levesque, Abby Downs and Katelyn St. Hilaire – have played there.

“Going to the Civic Center is a gift,” said EL coach Craig Jipson, who noted that former EL boys’ standout Troy Barnies didn’t play there until his final season. “It’s really hard to get there. I was worried about that for (Kirsten) Prue and (Kayla) Cummings. You just want them to get there, and our seniors certainly deserved to get there.”

EL faces the winner of the Cony-Mt. Ararat preliminary winner and then might have to go through Messalonskee and top-ranked Skowhegan.

The defending Eastern A champs from Oxford Hills (14-4) drew the fifth spot and will play Brunswick in the quarterfinals. The Vikings lost to the Dragons 36-33 in the season opener and beat Brunswick, 52-42, in January.

Leavitt secured the 11th-seed at 9-9. It is the best record since the Hornets went 11-7 in Class B in 1999. Leavitt plays at No. 6 Brewer in its first Class A playoff game.

“We can play with anybody,” said Leavitt coach Tammy Anderson. “We lost one game where we got blown out. That was Brunswick early in the season. My kids took one look at the size of them, and our eyes got big as saucers. The second time we played them, we played them tough. These kids have played well all year long, even with the good teams.”

In Western C, the MVC will be well represented once again. Waynflete secured its first-ever top ranking, but the next seven teams are all from the MVC. Jay (14-4) earned the second seed, narrowly missing its first No. 1. The next three are Carrabec (13-5), Mt. Abram (12-6) and Dirigo (12-6).

“We didn’t beat Mountain Valley this year, but we beat Jay,” said Dirigo coach Reggie Weston, whose team has a tough prelim battle with Livermore Falls. “We beat Hall-Dale. We know we can beat anybody in the MVC, just like everybody knows they can beat us. It’s a wide open tournament.”

Winthrop (13-5) won four games last year and missed the playoffs for the first time in decades. Ray Convery’s return as coach has the Ramblers back in contention in the sixth spot. After Hall-Dale (12-6) in seventh came St. Dom’s (12-6) at No. 8.

Waynflete gets a bye into the quarterfinals, but the rest of the Western C field have prelimianry-round games Tuesday.

In Western B, Mountain Valley (15-3) took third for the second straight year. The Falcons draw sixth-seeded Gray-New Gloucester (11-7).

“We got there last year,” said Falcons coach Rich Allen. “We have some kids coming back that have that experience. I’d like to get past the quarterfinal game. Then anything can happen after that quarterfinal game.”

After losing the prelims last year, Lisbon (13-5) earned the fifth spot. They’ll have a battle with fourth-ranked Falmouth (11-7), which has won six of its last seven games.