Class D South girls’ basketball: Rangeley ripe for repeat

Players to watch: Sr. F Blayke Morin, Rangeley; Soph. G Natasha Haley Rangeley; Sr. G Linda Riley, Forest Hills, Sr. F Caitlin Logston, Forest Hills; Soph. F Gilleyanne Davis-Oakes, Vinalhaven; Jr. F Kiara Carr, Temple; Soph. F Cassidy Lessner, Highview; Soph. G/F Alex Goodman, Pine Tree; Sr. G Jordan Belanger, Valley, Sr. F Clarissa Jones Greater Portland Christian.

Favorites: Rangeley

The Lakers aren’t the powerhouse they were last year, but they’re still pretty tough to beat. Morin, and fellow senior Maddison Egan (10 ppg), are veterans of a team that has been to eight of the last 10 regional finals and won last year. Haley (8 ppg, 5 rpg) and players like Sydney Royce (10 ppg, 6 rpg) and Amelia McMillan (8 ppg, 5 rpg) have all taken on larger roles and helped the Lakers go 9-0 against other Class D South tourney teams. Rangeley had 12 games in which opponents scored less than 30 points as the Lakers averaged just 26 points against. With just two seniors , the Lakers are relatively young but still have a lot of talent and experience.

Darkhorses: Forest Hills, Vinalhaven

The Tigers and Vikings are the two teams that have challenged Rangeley. Forest Hills have two potent scorers in Riley (20 ppg) and Logston (17.9 ppg) and finished the year winning eight straight. The Tigers averaged 52.6 points, second only to Rangeley (54.8 ppg) in the field.

Vinalhaven beat Forest Hills twice and had the closest game Rangeley had all season, 48-38. Davis-Oakes is one of the top post players in the field and the Vikings have some playoff experience, beating top-seeded Pine Tree last year before losing in the semifinals. The Vikings have most of that team back. Vinalhaven had won seven straight before back-to-back losses to Richmond to end the season.

Fun Facts: Rangeley has won three state titles and seven regional crowns when ranked No. 1. … Forest Hills has just five wins in Augusta since 2000 and three of those came in 2014 when the Tigers won the regional title. … Vinalhaven has just four quarterfinal wins since 1998, including last year’s win over Pine Tree. … This is the first tourney berth for Highview Christian in 21 years of having a program. The team was 3-27 the previous two years. … Pine Tree has just two tourney wins, a prelim win in 2005 and a quarterfinal win in 2014. … Valley went 2-8 against the other D South tourney teams. … Greater Portland Christian finished the regular season 1-10 and had 10 straight losses at one point.

Overview: The D South tourney has often been a collection of contenders and pretenders. Rangeley, Forest Hills and Vinalhaven appear to be true contenders this year. Pine Tree could surprise. They played Rangeley tough and have one of the top players in the field in Goodman. But the non-East-West Conference teams rarely make a dent in this tourney field.

The Tigers and Vikings should meet up in a semifinal that could go either way. Then the winner gets to see if it can topple Rangeley. The Lakers have won 41 of its last 42 regular season games and finished this season with 17 straight wins. Rangeley has continued to grow this season and get better. Despite its youth, the Lakers still like have more tourney experience than most in the field.

Prediction: Rangeley

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