When neither of the top two seeds consider themselves the favorite, does the tournament even have a favorite?
We’re about to find out as the Eastern Class B boys basketball tournament plays itself out.
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Eastern Class B Boys Basketball
Eastern B boys at a glance
Defending champ: Old Town
Players to watch: Nicholas DePatsy, Medomak Valley; Justin Martin, Winslow, Todor Imsir, MCI; Seth McFarland, Gardiner; Eric Hoogterp, Old Town; Dayne Savage, Caribou.
Matchup we’d like to see: Winslow beat Medomak Valley 62-45 early in the regular season. A rematch in the regional final would likely be a much closer game.
Team most likely to pull an upset: Caribou. Led by Dayne and Donovan Savage, the Vikings could knock off the defending state champions. Their quarterfinal game is a rematch of last season’s regional final.
We’d be surprised if: The top three seeds all lose in the quarterfinals for the second season in a row.
Championship prediction: Medomak Valley
“This tournament’s wide open, as far as I’m concerned,” said Nick DePatsy, the coach of No. 1 seed Medomak Valley (16-2).
Added Jared Browne, the coach on No. 2 Winslow (16-2): “I think it’s as wide open as it can be.”
The tournament starts Friday, when No. 6 Caribou (13-6) takes on defending Class B state champion and third-seeded Old Town (17-1) at 8 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Browne’s Black Raiders open play Saturday at 9:05 a.m. against No. 7 Oceanside (13-6). Although both play in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, Winslow and Oceanside did not play each other in the regular season.
“Oceanside is pretty athletic. They can still shoot the ball. They have really good guards, and we’ll have to get out on them and defend,” Browne said.
Winslow is led by 6-foot-6 senior forward Justin Martin, who averaged more than 20 points per game over the second half of the season. Guard Colby Robertson is a 3-point shooting threat.
Nick Mazurek and Jarrod Leonardi lead the Mariners.
Maine Central Institute is back in the tournament for the first time since 2007. The No. 8 Huskies (13-6) did not play No. 1 Medomak Valley in the regular season, but know they have to be ready for the Panthers’ up-tempo play.
“Continuous motion,” MCI coach Josh Tardy said of Medomak Valley. “Those guys screen well and move off screens. They’re a mature team, despite the fact that they’ve got some underclassmen. They’ve got one of the best players in the conference and a great coach. We’re looking for all we can handle.”
The player Tardy referred to is Nicholas DePatsy, the coach’s son, who averages 22 points per game. Colton Spear and Cameron Allaire have provided scoring and hit the boards for the Panthers. Coach DePatsy said his team goes 10 or 11 players deep.
“They’re sharing the ball. They’re defending very well, and we’re rebounding and we’re running. There’s no secret to what we’re going to do,” DePatsy said. “I don’t want them comfortable, because there’s always someone on the bench who can come in, and I think that’s helped us a lot.”
MCI has one of the best shooters in the tournament in senior guard Todor Imsir, who scored 24 points in the Huskies’ 43-28 preliminary round win over Hermon. Mitchell Hallee and Austin Tolman are good interior defenders for MCI.
“They play hard. They play very aggressive. They’re a scary team,” Coach DePatsy said.
No. 4 Gardiner (13-5) faces the only preliminary round upset winner, No. 12 Mt. Desert Island (6-13). The Trojans knocked off No. 5 Ellsworth on Wednesday, just days after losing to the Eagles in the regular season finale. Russell Kropff and Graham Good lead the Trojans.
Gardiner is coming off an impressive 77-55 win over Mount View in the preliminary round. The Tigers shot 62 percent from the field in the first three quarters. Seth McFarland, Eli Fish and Brad Weston combined for 58 points in the win.
“We’ve had a couple of games (on bigger floors like MCI) and we’ve talked about how we’ll have to adjust our defense and some different things. Hopefully that will work to our advantage where we have some depth on our bench,” Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy said.
Friday night’s game between Old Town and Caribou is a rematch of last season’s regional final, won by Old Town in overtime. Old Town beat the Vikings twice in the regular season.
Caribou is led by brothers Dayne and Donovan Savage, along with Taylor Thiboudeau.
Eric Hoogterp is a top scoring threat for the Coyotes.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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