Ella Pelletier of Oxford Hills pulls up for a jump shot during the 46-40 win over Edward Little in a season opener Dec. 6 in South Paris. Oxford Hills and Edward Little are among the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams playing in the SMAA this season for scheduling purposes. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Class AA basketball teams have a different schedule this season with the addition of four KVAC schools — Bangor, Edward Little, Lewiston and Oxford Hills — to the SMAA as associate teams, for basketball only.

Edward Little athletic director Todd Sampson said the change adds unfamiliar regular-season opponents to the schedule.

“We have a really similar type of schedule …” Sampson said. “But we’ve got some newer opponents; we’re going to play Westbrook, we’re going to play Gray-New Gloucester. So I think, initially, it was to help the SMAA, but it’s really helped the regional schedule and given us a pretty competitive, good schedule.”

SMAA president Joe Schwartzman said the move makes it easier to create fair and balanced schedules. Bangor, Edward Little, Lewiston and Oxford Hills are the only KVAC teams in Class AA, so it makes sense to schedule them against SMAA schools.

“These teams, they play in the playoffs, just because AA is so small right now,” Schwartzman said. “Those two, AA North and AA South, they’re small (with a combined 15 teams), and the majority of the schedule is still similar to last year, but we have a league rule that you have to play 14 games within league, so it gives them a better schedule playing more AA schools.”

Sampson said this is a good year to test the scheduling because the current classification cycle ends after the season.

“We’re already looking if we are going to stay with five classes in basketball,” Sampson said. “There’s been a four-class proposal, so I think everybody is enjoying this, but they’re also looking at maybe using that classification cycle to make improvements.”

Schwartzman, who is on the MPA’s reclassification committee, said the proposal to remove Class AA next season is not on the table but could be.

“We haven’t officially seen a proposal as of yet, but, there’s a four-class proposal coming, which would make a much bigger (Class) A or AA,” Schwartzman said. “I don’t know if they’ll just keep it (Class) A, B, C and D, with a North and a South with, you know, anywhere from 15 to 17 teams in both.”

Nate Pelletier, the former Oxford Hills girls basketball coach and current Windham athletic director, said the schedule changes may be “different” for SMAA schools in the regular season, but the KVAC schools already face the SMAA schools in the playoffs.

“I mean, essentially, it didn’t really make a huge difference other than it allowed those four schools to continue playing the teams that they played the last couple of years,” Pelletier said. “It’s always good to play teams (in the regular season) that you’re going to play in the playoffs.”

He added that anytime conference teams are able to face off in the regular season, it fosters better rivalries and matchups for the playoffs.

Celia Bergdahl, left, is averaging a double-double for Maranacook, which is off to a 5-1 start. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

MARANACOOK’S HOT START: Maranacook (5-1) is off to a strong start, with five wins and a 45-42 loss to Mt. Blue on Dec. 13. The Black Bears are poised to do well because they are deep and only lost two players (Natalie Mohlar graduated and senior Hadley Farwell is out with an ACL tear) from a team that went 13-5 last season, said coach Karen Magnusson. The Black Bears went 10-5 in 2022-23.

“This group has played a lot of basketball together, and they got their first varsity minutes, really as a group last year of sophomores, and we had one senior and one junior,” Magnusson said. “We really returned three starters and some some key kids off the bench, and I just think another year’s experience — they’re all juniors and one senior — (means) knowing what the experience is like playing at a varsity level. Now they’re able to focus on what we can do to be better.”

Magnusson sees a change in attitude with this year’s team. The Black Bears, Magnusson said, are more competitive, coachable and improving each game.

Junior Celia Bergdahl averages a double-double, and finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in Maranacook’s 55-15 win over Lisbon on Thursday.

“Celia has really taken a big jump. You could see those qualities in her as a player last year, but I just think she just needed a year under her belt,” Magnusson said. “Coming in this year, she’s really been strong offensively, but again, it comes back to being focused on defense and rebounding the basketball.”

Magnusson said Bergdahl stands out as a leader because of her rebounding and aggressiveness. Sophomore point guard Cooper Davis and junior forward Alice Farin are among the others playing well.

“They seem just to connect really well, and so sometimes Celia is able to get those easy buckets, but her teammates are setting her up as well,” Magnusson said. “So I think there’s a really good balance, even though Celia is scoring the points, right? They all know different roles that they need to be in order for us to be successful.”

Sun Journal staff writer Nathan Fournier contributed to this story.