This year’s boys’ basketball tournament shapes up as a site director’s nightmare.

With six to eight games on the daily agenda and a fixed amount of minutes to clear the hall between sessions, the last thing that frazzled, friendly face from the Maine Principals’ Association needs to see is overtime.

See it, he and we may, and in abundance.

If we’ve ever said it before, we didn’t mean it until now. THIS is the most unpredictable tourney in recent memory. Undefeated teams? You won’t find one. All-senior starting fives? They’re rare as patches of green grass right now.

Here’s a closer look at the impending madness:

Eastern A

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OK, sanity may prevail here, at least for a while. The top three seeds (Bangor, Hampden, Edward Little) will be heavy first-round favorites.

EL doesn’t bear the burden of a No. 1 or No. 2 seed or a perfect record, as in years past. Bangor and Hampden enjoy the perceived advantage of playing in the North, which is seen as the stronger of the two KVAC divisions. But that was the case the last two years, as well.

With the exception of its loss to Hampden and a one-point win over Brunswick, EL has breezed. Bo Leary has the potential to dominate Hampden down low in a prospective semifinal, and the Eddies’ defense has made a quantum leap since the teams first met.

Bangor’s size and strength would pose a different challenge in the final — not that the Rams should assume anything against a well-prepared Mt. Blue-Lawrence winner in the semis.

The Eddies have the psychological edge of having beaten the Rams here the last two years. Just as Bangor once owned its auditorium at tournament time, EL seems to have established some mystique at the capital city site.

Prediction: Edward Little over Bangor in overtime.

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Western B

Welcome to the region in which not even the comparative scores make sense. No. 3 York swept No. 2 Cape Elizabeth. No. 4 Yarmouth defeated each of the top three seeds but lost to No. 8 Gray-New Gloucester. Naturally, No. 1 Greely and No. 2 Cape split their series, although neither game was close.

Those are merely the WMC mainstays. Now blend in Mountain Valley — a team that lost its last two regular-season games after an MVC unbeaten streak of more than two full years — and Leavitt, a KVAC school that hasn’t won this many games in a season since the 1960s. Both have battled key late-season injuries and will need to get well in a hurry.

Fittingly, there’s no defending champion. Falmouth just missed out on the playoff party. So who is fit to succeed the Yachtsmen? Greely was the most consistent club all year. When the Rangers are on, they’re on. They won seven games by double digits against fellow playoff foes.

Cape arguably boasts the best player in the draw, Theo Bowe. He’s capable of erupting for 30 points or more, any night. It’s also worth noting that he sat out the Capers’ loss to Greely with flu symptoms. Call it a hunch that the third time will be the charm against York, and that Bowe will be itching to run down the Rangers in the rematch.

Prediction: Cape Elizabeth over Greely.

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Western C

And you thought Class B was wide open.

No. 1 Dirigo seeks its third consecutive regional title with a new starting five and a new coach. While returning playoff experience was almost nil, the Cougars clearly established themselves as the top team in the Heal Points by a wide margin. With the exception of a hiccup in the regular-season finale against Jay (after the Cougars already had wrapped up the top seed), Dirigo saved its best ball for the second half of the schedule.

That makes the defending champions the favorite, but not a prohibitive one. No. 2 Boothbay took Dirigo to overtime in a 68-62 December loss, then prevailed 89-88 in double-OT in the MVC championship. Other teams in the bracket tested the Cougars, too. No. 6 Monmouth took them to overtime. No. 8 Livermore Falls — Dirigo’s quarterfinal opponent — lost by only two points in the first of their two meetings.

As usual, it is tough to get a reading on the three WMC entries (Old Orchard Beach, Waynflete, Traip) because of their schedule. Due to the decreasing number of small schools in that league, those three schools play one another three times and fill out the docket with a Class B rival or two and a handful of Class C and D independents. No. 3 OOB is the highest seed and reached last year’s semifinals.

Still, no current WMC ‘C’ school has won the regional title since 1994. And anyone in their right mind who witnessed an epic MVC title game in Augusta is craving a rematch.

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Prediction: Dirigo over Boothbay … in regulation this time.

Western D

Seriously, just throw the names in a hat.

When is the last time a No. 1 seed had five losses? Forest Hills beat every other team in the draw. The Tigers also slipped up against No. 2 Greenville, No. 4 Islesboro, No. 5 Vinalhaven and No. 7 Valley.

When is the last time a No. 7 seed was the hottest team entering the tournament? Valley has won five games in a row and eight of its last 11.

Elan (Jack Peters) and Islesboro (D.J. Johnson) might boast the top two individual players.

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Oh, and No. 3 Richmond merely seeks its fourth straight regional title.

But there’s one team whose balance and brutal schedule prepared them to win an extremely entertaining tournament.

Prediction: Greenville over Islesboro.

koakes@sunjournal.com


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