AUGUSTA — Can anyone beat Rangeley?

That is the question seven other teams will looking to answer as the girls Western Class D tournament kicks off beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Additional Images

Richmond High School’s Sydney Tilton, right, looks for a shot as Pine Tree Academy’s Kim Emerson defends during a Jan. 14 game. Staff file photo by Andy Molloy

Forest Hills guard Keely Taylor, left, knocks the ball away from Vinalhaven guard Hannah Noyes during a Western D tournament game last season. Taylor and the Tigers will play Searsport today at 1 p.m. Staff file photo by Joe Phelan

At a glance

Defending champ: Forest Hills

Players to watch: Seve Deery-DeRaps, Taylor Esty, Blayke Morin, Rangeley; Sydney Tilton, Richmond; Melinda Ogden, Searsport; Alex Goodman, Pine Tree; Keely Taylor, Forest Hills.

Matchup we’d like to see: No. 1 Pine Tree (17-1) vs. No. 2 Rangeley (17-0). Teams did not meet during the regular season.

Team most likely to pull an upset: No. 4 Richmond.

We’d be surprised if: Rangeley did not win Western D.

Championship prediction: Rangeley

The Lakers (17-0) may be the No. 2 seed in the tournament, but they are still the favorites to come out of the West after a dominant regular season.

Rangeley averaged just over 65 points per game this season, and outside of a 51-34 win over Richmond on Jan. 31, the Lakers won each game by 20 points or more. Even still, Rangeley coach Heidi Deery is only focused on her team’s first game Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. against Valley (7-11).

“Obviously a tournament is a whole different ball of wax and we certainly have been preparing for that all year,” Deery said. “It’s really going to come down to what team or teams really come prepared to play 32 minutes.

“…I don’t think in high school basketball it is a good move to look beyond anybody, so we’re preparing for our game (Tuesday) with Valley and we’re not really looking beyond that.”

If the Lakers can avoid an upset against Valley, they will face the winner of No. 3 Forest Hills (15-3) and No. 6 Searsport (11-7). Searsport did not play either Forest Hills or Rangeley during the regular season. In their lone meeting, the Lakers defeated the Tigers 48-28 on Jan. 16.

Rangeley knows just how dangerous Forest Hills can be come tournament time, however, as the Tigers beat the Lakers for last year’s Western D title on a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Kori Coro.

“(Forest Hills) is always going to be competitive in a tournament situation,” Deery said. “Their kids play really tough and are always looking to knock somebody off. It’s really going to come down to the team that can focus on the task at hand.”

The other half of the Western D bracket pits No. 1 Pine Tree (17-1) against No. 9 Vinalhaven (8-10) and No. 4 Richmond (12-6) against No. 5 Hyde (14-4).

The Breakers are the favorites as the top seed, but do not be surprised if Richmond makes a run to the regional finals. The Bobcats certainly have a tough road to get there, yet strong competition is nothing new to the team.

Richmond played one of the more difficult schedules in Western D with two games each against Pine Tree, Rangeley and Old Orchard Beach — the No. 4 seed in the Western C tournament. The Bobcats were the only team to beat Pine Tree this season, a 30-16 win on Dec. 18.

“That was a benefit for us to have such a tough schedule,” Richmond coach Mike Ladner said. “It’s going to only make us better come now. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be ready.

“…I feel like we’re peaking at the right time. We’ve actually been able to get some practices in during the last week so we’re working on some new things, but other than that it’s basically sticking to the basics and working on the fundamentals.”

The regional semifinals will be played on Thursday at 2 and 4:30 p.m., while the finals will take place Saturday at 7:05 p.m. All games will be held at the Augusta Civic Center.

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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