Maren Maxon is the top returning player for Wells, which boasts more depth this season and is expected to contend in Class B South. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

In girls’ basketball, favorites change each season. In Class B South, however, it felt like that position was occupied the moment the final buzzer sounded last year.

Oceanside was coming off its second Class B championship in three years. Bailey Breen had another year left. Two starters and the top player off the bench were due back. A program that had won 75 of its last 76 games was showing no signs of slowing down.

And then came the jolt. Breen, perhaps the state’s top player and the Miss Maine Basketball favorite, transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida in August. Suddenly, prospects brightened for a whole lot of other Class B South teams.

“I said to the girls going into the season that our goal is playing 22 games,” Lake Region Coach Doug Banks said, noting that the number of games usually played by teams that reach a state championship game. “Now, it’s more believable for everybody. … It’s like, OK, this is probably the first time in a long time that this division’s wide open. It’s going to be fun to see how people play.”

With Breen’s departure, and with a Spruce Mountain team that battled Oceanside in back-to-back regional finals needing to replace Jaydn Pingree and Aubrey Kachnovich, there’s no clear-cut team to beat. It could be a Biddeford team that is stocked with talent. Or a Wells team that has been knocking on the door the last two seasons. Or a veteran Medomak Valley team. The list goes on.

It was a different story when Oceanside was expecting to bring back the 6-foot-3 Breen, a UMaine commit who averaged 30.6 points and 9.3 rebounds last season.

“Teams (have) the confidence to be like ‘We could be that team,’ instead of saying ‘I want to get as far as we can until we play Oceanside’ or whatever,” Wells Coach Sandi McPadden said. “Now, it’s kind of opening the field of everyone being like ‘That’s a real goal for us. We can get there.’ ”

Perhaps more than before, teams know their tournament destiny is entirely up to them.

“The odds aren’t necessarily as stacked against you,” York Coach Jess Stacy said. “I had some of the kids that graduated last year that texted me immediately when they saw (Breen) was heading down south, like ‘Hey, Oceanside is beatable now.’ My response was ‘They’re always beatable, any team’s beatable,’ because that’s the competitor in me. But it opens things up wide open for the rest of the teams to step up.”

Anna Smyth was part of a talented freshman class last season for Biddeford, which is welcoming another promising group of newcomers this season. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

The new team to beat could be Biddeford, which went 0-18 two years ago in Class A but has been bolstered by the arrival of two strong classes of freshmen, last season and this season. Jordyn Crump, a talented guard, and Anna Smyth, a tough rebounder, impressed in their debuts last year, and Mia Mariello and sisters Gabriella and Natalia Silva are among the freshmen who should be ready to contribute right away. Ayla Lagasse and Gabby Smith are also impact players from last season.

“I don’t want (my players) to look ahead to February, I want them to look no further past Friday,” Coach Jeannine Paradis said. “(But) am I excited for the potential for what February could look like? Absolutely.”

Medomak Valley, which brings back Kytana Williamson (18.8 points per game), Sadie Knight, Lilly Christ and Audrey Jackson (.362 3-point percentage) from a team that went 15-5 and reached the regional semifinals, is strong again. The same can be said for Wells, which returns University of Vermont commit Maren Maxon, Payton Fazzina and Megyn Mertens and also gets shooter Hailey Marshall and rebounder Savannah Tardiff back in the lineup after they missed last season.

“Two years ago, we had our two seniors and one junior, and the rest were freshmen and sophomores. This year, we have three seniors and two juniors leading the way,” McPadden said. “I’m excited to see this extra step of leadership that we have with this group.”

Yarmouth is young but athletic, with several sophomores – guard Giselle Jabar, forward Evangeline Hagerty and guard Rory Tompkins – ready to take on bigger roles. Lake Region went 13-7 last season and made the regional semifinals, and has Margo Tremblay and WMC all-defensive team pick Bella Smith back to lead the way for a team that will hope to win games on the strength of defensive intensity.

“We practice really hard, and we really concentrate on defense and rotations,” Banks said. “Scoring might be a little difficult … but I think, defensively, we’re going to be able to keep teams within reach most, if not all games.”

McPadden cautioned not to count out York. With guard/forward Nya Avery and guards Emma Joyce and Maddie Fitzgerald back, plus Marshwood transfer Piper Catanese in the mix at guard, the young Wildcats could improve on last year’s 11-8 record and quarterfinal exit.

Size won’t be a strength for York, but energy, hustle and defense will be.

“There’s so much potential with this group,” Stacy said. “If we can clean up some of the ‘newness’ that I’ve seen, I think we have the potential to play with anybody.”

It also might be a mistake to write off Oceanside. Aubrianna Hoose has improved considerably as a scoring threat, and Grace Mackie and Renee Ripley are dangerous shooters. The Mariners no longer have the height to play inside-out, but a hot shooting night could take down anyone.

“Rebounding’s going to be an issue for us. We’re going to have to really concentrate on boxing out,” Coach Matt Breen said. “We’ve got some shooters, so we’ll be able to spread the floor and hopefully knock down shots. But when you’re taking a lot of jump shots, you can win some games you’re not supposed to and you can lose some games you’re supposed to win.”