And much of the current chatter is the same as it was a year ago and the year before that and the year before that.

It’s a wonder we have any kids left who can actually dribble the ball past halfcourt.

I’m not here to say it’s better or worse, for most everyone who opines on the subject has a different way of making that judgment.

Suffice it to say high school basketball has changed dramatically throughout the last generation, and while much of the criticism seems to be directed at today’s players, truly there are many places where blame might be assigned.

One area that’s fact rather than opinion involves demographics. There aren’t as many kids playing basketball in Maine these days because there aren’t as many kids — one price to be paid for ranking among the oldest states in the nation in terms of average age.

And today’s kids have so many more options than they did back in the dark ages when the only winter sports sponsored by many high schools were basketball, cheering and an occasional wrestling team. Swimming, indoor track and field, ice hockey, and skiing all have taken their share of today’s available talent pool, not to mention a range of other non-athletic activities that have cropped up in the computer age.

Is coaching better or worse than it was a generation ago? How about officiating? How about the organizational structure of the sport at the youth levels? How about the off-season programs for the older kids?

No doubt all of these factors and many more are ingredients in the current state of Maine high school hoop world but rather than blame one thing for any problems the sport faces perhaps some introspection from all areas of the game are in order.

I remain content to define good or bad in this instance as I have done so since I could first pass a basketball, or more likely shoot it.

And that’s the competitive drama of the game, which to me remains as strong as ever. Whatever the skill level is, it’s fairly consistent from school to school in their respective divisions, meaning plenty of evenly matched games and many teams harboring realistic championship dreams.

There’s also excellence to be found both among Eastern Maine teams and individuals this winter just as in previous years — even though many of the top squads boast fairly youthful rosters.

Few connoisseurs of the sport can watch Hampden Academy whip the ball around the perimeter with only a rare dribble while getting all five players involved in seeking out a good shot and not be impressed. Look at the leaderboard in all four classes, and strong teamwork is the common denominator.

And the roster of standout individual players, led by Garet Beal of Jonesport-Beals and including the likes of Zach Gilpin of Hampden Academy, Isaiah Bess of Penquis of Milo, Kyle Bouchard of Houlton, Mitch Worcester of Washburn, Garrett Libby of Old Town and Ben Walls of MDI, just to name a few, are talents worth watching.

Sure, everyone has the right to criticize, but when it dominates the conversation it seems like an opportunity lost because there remains much to like about high school basketball in Maine.

Ray “All Business” Wood won two awards, as amateur fighter of the year and for his role in the fight of the year.

Wood went 2-1 in amateur bouts in 2012 before turning pro in November with a victory over John “First Class” Raio at Fight Night V in Lewiston.

Wood defeated New Yorker Ahsan Abdullah by first-round technical knockout at Fight Night I in Lewiston on Feb. 11, then moved up from his regular 145-pound weight class and lost a unanimous decision to another New Yorker, Shane Manley, at Fight Night II in Biddeford on April 14.

Wood then won the NortheastMMA.net fight of the year with a unanimous decision over previously undefeated Soaphanarith “Soap” Am in a battle of two of the top 145-pound amateurs in the region at Derry, N.H., on Oct. 12.

The 23-year-old Wood, ranked third in the division, used the wrestling skills he honed while at Bucksport High School to overpower the top-ranked Am, who had entered the bout with a 4-0 record.

Wood finished his amateur career with a 5-1 record, then went on to defeat Raio by technical knockout at 4:22 of the second round of their mutual pro debut in his most recent bout.

Young’s MMA teammate Aaron Lacey of Orono won submission of the year honors, rallying after losing the first two rounds of his amateur debut to win defeat Jared Lanagas with a triangle choke at 54 seconds of the third round of their 155-pound bout on the Oct. 12 card at Derry, N.H.

And knockout of the year honors went to Brewer’s Bruce Boyington, whose stunning 10-second stoppage of Keegan Hornstra with a spinning back kick at Fight Night III at Lewiston on June 16 gained national attention on the “Inside MMA” television program and went viral on the Internet with more than a quarter-million views.

But a glimpse at Saturday’s schoolboy basketball schedule reveals at least five regular-season matchups of postseason quality that may be worth a drive to check out for anyone wanting to get a head start on tourney fever.

Three of the contests have 2:30 p.m. varsity starts — Deer Isle-Stonington at Bangor Christian, Presque Isle at Hermon and Houlton at Lee — followed at 6:30 p.m. by Calais at Jonesport-Beals and at 7 p.m. by Hodgdon at Central Aroostook of Mars Hill.

The Deer Isle-Stonington at Bangor Christian matchup features a veteran Deer Isle-Stonington team considered one of the preseason favorites in Eastern D on the road at perhaps the surprise team of that division in unbeaten Bangor Christian.

Deer Isle-Stonington (5-1) has lost only an overtime decision at defending state champion Jonesport Beals and features top point guard Sam Grindle, a senior who already has surpassed 1,000 career points this winter.

Bangor Christian (6-0) not only is unbeaten this winter, but many of its players are coming off an undefeated soccer season and fourth consecutive state championship in that sport last fall as well as a run to the Class D state title in baseball last spring.

Presque Isle and Hermon have emerged as two of the top teams in the Big East Conference Class B ranks through the first third of the season, with Presque Isle at 6-1 and Hermon at 5-2. Presque Isle edged Hermon 54-49 in Aroostook County early in the season, but after opening with losses at Presque Isle and Lee Academy, the Hawks have rebounded with five consecutive victories.

Presque Isle, meanwhile, is undefeated against Class B competition, with its only loss against Class C Houlton.

Houlton’s trip to Lee marks a rematch of last winter’s Eastern C championship game in which Lee rallied in the fourth quarter to win its second straight regional title while ending the Shiretowners’ Cinderella run from an 8-10 regular-season finish.

But it’s Cinderella no more for this year’s Houlton team. As is the case with Bangor Christian, several of the Shiretowners are coming off a state championship run in soccer, a contingent led by sophomore forward Kyle Bouchard.

Top-seeded Houlton already has equaled its regular-season win total from a year ago — this time without a single loss to date — while a new-look and second-ranked Lee team brings a 6-1 record into the contest.

Another Class C contender, Calais, challenges University of Maine-bound senior forward Garet Beal and reigning Class D state champion Jonesport-Beals in a Down East battle of the unbeatens.

Calais (5-0) has been led offensively by high-scoring senior guard Devin Hall, but coach Ed Leeman’s Blue Devils are an otherwise youthful club fairly reliant on a deep sophomore class.

Beal, meanwhile, is averaging a walloping 35.7 points per game for coach Gordon Faulkingham’s 6-0 Jonesport-Beals club after a 44-point explosion in a win over Machias earlier this week.

The Hodgdon-Central Aroostook clash matches two of the top five-ranked teams in Eastern D. Central Aroostook is enjoying a 7-0 start, with the Panthers led by sophomore guard Chandler Brewer and senior center Steven Decker.

Hodgdon (6-1) also is unbeaten against Class D competition, its only loss coming in overtime at Houlton. The Hawks feature a tall, deep lineup that includes 6-foot-5-inch sophomore Chris Hudson, 6-4 senior Devin Logie and 6-3 classmate Josh Hudson along with senior guard Nick Lunn and junior guard Tyler Sherman.

So take your pick. No predictions here, other than the entertainment value of any of these games should be high.

But in an effort to ensure a pristine quality among the chosen ones, recognition that originally was centered on athletic achievement now sometimes serves to cast an unintended and undeserved degree of doubt on worthy players who don’t wind up winning the grand prize.

Take Jordan Whitney of Mt. Blue High School in Farmington.

The senior quarterback, safety and punter did about everything a high school football player could do for his team this fall.

He passed for 1,755 yards and 26 touchdowns, rushed for 658 yards and five more scores, intercepted three passes on defense — one he returned for a touchdown — and also returned a punt for another score.

The Pine Tree Conference Class B offensive player of the year was the undisputed leader of a Mt. Blue team that not only won the Class B state championship, but was the state’s only undefeated team this season.

For his career Whitney passed for 4,924 yards and 65 touchdowns, rushed for 1,241 yards and 12 TDs, and intercepted nine passes.

Whitney clearly had one of 12 best senior seasons of any Maine high school football player this fall, and his career stats are just as likely among the 12 best in the Class of 2013.

But nowhere was he to be found among the 12 semifinalists announced recently for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, a Portland-based award that annually seeks to honor the state’s top high school senior football player.

The award originally was presented to the top Class A player but eventually came to include all classes. And while organizers may be reluctant to admit it, over time it’s clear the award has placed an increased emphasis on academics and school and community service in an effort to eliminate young ne’er-do-wells from contention.

On the surface that’s not necessarily bad, but at least one very negative unintended consequence has resulted.

For when candidates with a football resume like Jordan Whitney — or Sam Dexter of Messalonskee of Oakland, who had similarly impressive football statistics a year ago — are omitted from consideration, the conversation inevitably turns from football to the candidate’s academic standing or even speculation about what he might have come up short in another area — certainly speculation the player didn’t bring on himself.

The academic consideration is part of the process Jack Dawson, who heads the Fitzpatrick Trophy selection committee, acknowledged publicly during a recent television interview.

“I’ll let the list speak for itself,” he said. “There are a couple of players who didn’t make the list who are incredibly good football players. Their statistics would knock your eye out.

“But the transcripts would likewise be conspicuous in their comparison with the other transcripts we have.”

I don’t know Jordan Whitney other than his football persona and the fact he has made the honor roll on multiple occasions while at Mt. Blue.

I do know Whitney’s coach, Gary Parlin, and his public defense of his quarterback leaves little doubt he feels Whitney meets all the requirements for the award.

Regardless of whether Whitney’s omission from the list was just that, an omission, or had to do with other factors, there’s got to be a better way to determine these award winners than a process that leaves some of the candidates subject to unwarranted questions in the public arena.

A significant portion of that school’s sports program has fallen victim to the budget ax this week after RSU 19 voters opted not to approve a $3.6 million loan to bail out the financially strapped school system at Tuesday’s elections.

Current superintendent of schools Greg Potter, who began in that capacity on July 1, started implementing $750,000 in systemwide cuts Wednesday in the aftermath of the vote. Those follow $830,000 in cuts previously administered to help address costs stemming from what has been described as the mishandling of previous budgets.

Subvarsity and middle school sports programs were hard hit, as well as elements of the music program, field trips, supplies and equipment and 5½ fulltime-equivalent support staff positions.

And varsity teams will have to find their own way to road games for the rest of the school year, at least, as transportation to games was cut.

That these are the items slashed from the budget reflects the fact that 83 percent of RSU 19’s budget is made up of salaries, benefits and mandatory costs that must be paid.

A typical high school sports department represents approximately two percent of an overall school budget.

One reaction to the crisis is to label the 3,853 voters who opted to turn down the loan request as short sighted, but I’m not going to blame people who figured they already had paid their taxes once and shouldn’t have to pay again for mistakes made by administrators they had paid big bucks to make good decisions on their behalf.

And let’s face it, most taxpayers in these parts are tapped out just trying to keep pace with their everyday bills without having to take on additional debt that never should have accrued in the first place.

While the balloting was close, with just a 353-vote margin of victory for those against approving the loan, seven of the eight communities in RSU 19 voted against the proposal.

The impact of the cuts on the competitiveness of the Nokomis athletic program will be considerable and perhaps long-standing, even if they are alleviated in the coming months or year by voter approval of a smaller loan request that surely will be forthcoming.

A major target of the cuts are the middle-school and subvarsity teams that not only develop varsity standouts of the future but also provide a primary co-curricular option for hundreds of other students. Once those youngsters find something else good or bad to do with their free time they’re unlikely to return to sports in a year or two.

Perhaps it’s time to get creative.

Potter has indicated that the RSU would not allow parents or others to coach JV teams on a volunteer basis. But developing the best intramural program possible, private fundraising efforts and pay-for-play concepts are topics worthy of discussion in an effort to help sustain as many athletic options as possible in the short term.

I’ve believed for a few years now that youth athletics in the United States eventually will evolve from its current school-based system into a European model in which young athletes play for local club teams.

No doubt the educational system will challenge that possibility as there are studies that suggest a positive correlation between participating in co-curricular activities and academic success.

But amid trying economic times, some day the taxpayers may make that decision for them.

Here’s one view of a few of the brightest moments.

Individual performance of the year: Jared Jensen, Brunswick. Few sports fans had heard of Jensen away from the wrestling mat — where he is a two-time Class A state champion — until the opening game of the 2012 season, when the senior halfback rushed for a stunning 428 yards and five touchdowns on 37 carries as Brunswick upended Bangor 36-28. Injuries have slowed Jensen up slightly in recent weeks, but he still enters the 6-2 Dragons’ final regular-season game against Mount Ararat of Topsham with PTC Class A-leading totals of 1,874 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns on 210 carries.

Game of the year: Mt. Blue 20, Leavitt 12. These teams went to double overtime in the 2011 PTC Class B final before Leavitt finally pulled out a 22-21 win by going for and successfully executing a win-or-lose two-point conversion on the final play of the game. In their first meeting since then, Mt. Blue of Farmington traveled to Turner Center, took an immediate 14-0 lead and held on for a 20-12 victory that ended Leavitt’s 38-game winning streak against PTC competition, a run dating back to the 2008 playoffs.

Comeback of the year: Belfast 30, Mount Desert Island 22. This game was all MDI at halftime, with the Trojans holding a 22-0 lead on Belfast’s home turf. But the Lions, which entered the game with a 1-3 record after losses to PTC Class B heavyweights Gardiner, Leavitt of Turner Center and Hampden Academy, may have saved their season by scoring 22 third-quarter points to tie the game and then scoring the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Belfast won three of its last four games and used the win over MDI as the tiebreaker to earn the No. 7 seed for the conference playoffs.

Upset of the year: Bucksport 13, Foxcroft Academy 0. On the surface this wasn’t that big an upset, given that Bucksport is the reigning Eastern Maine Class C champion that had eliminated Foxcroft in the 2011 LTC semifinals. But Foxcroft had outscored its first six opponents this autumn by a combined 322-8 and had not had a point scored on its first-team defense, while Bucksport had lost to Orono and John Bapst of Bangor, teams that already had fallen to Foxcroft by a combined 82-0. But Foxcroft got off to a sluggish start and Bucksport capitalized with two early touchdowns before its defense took over, inducing four turnovers to keep the Ponies off the scoreboard and give the rest of the LTC field a sense of hope as the postseason arrives.

Resurgence of the year: Dexter Tigers. Tigertown was Titletown throughout much of the 1980s, but the Tigers have had little success since then, including last fall when Dexter finished 1-7. But this year has marked a new beginning under new head coach Kevin Armstrong, who has guided his team to a 6-2 record good for fifth place in the final LTC Class C Crabtree point ratings. Dexter will be the underdog in its quarterfinal matchup at Bucksport on Friday night, but with solid participation numbers and new momentum the football future is looking brighter for the Tigers.

Breakthrough of the year: Hermon Hawks. After winning just one game during their debut varsity season in 2011 and falling to Dexter in their season opener this fall, the Hawks won five of their next six games en route to a 5-3 finish in the LTC Class C. Hermon is ineligible for postseason play because it is a Class B school by enrollment playing a Class C schedule, which is too bad because the Hawks feature a running back any fan would like to watch play in sophomore David Shepardson, the LTC’s leading rusher this fall with 1,416 yards and 21 touchdowns.

One decal, “SL,” honors Frederick “Smokey” Lawrence, a longtime sports official in the area who also operated scoreboards and game clocks at numerous school events, including John Bapst games. Lawrence died unexpectedly on Sept. 19.

Another decal, “OK,” is in memory of Owen Krause, a popular 16-year-old John Bapst junior from Stockton Springs who died in an automobile accident that same morning.

“Both individuals are near and dear to us for a lot of different reasons, and we wanted to make sure we kept them in our hearts and minds,” said John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell.

“It’s also a reminder that this is a privilege, that every day is precious and more specifically it’s not a right to play football because not everybody does it but it is a privilege for us, so we want to  to hold them in our hearts and play for those who can’t and for those who aren’t with us any more. Those two decals will help us stay motivated in that regard.”

Shepardson, Fox emerging talents

David Shepardson and Tehon Fox may not be well known to area football fans who focus only on the top of the standings, but the two running backs are playing prime roles in leading their teams toward respectability.

Shepardson, a sophomore, leads the LTC Class C ranks in rushing with 642 yards on 85 carries — good for an average of 7.6 yards per attempt — and also ranks third in the conference with eight touchdowns in helping Hermon’s second-year varsity program get off to a 2-2 start this fall.

Shepardson’s continued emergence for coach Ken Frederick’s Hawks should come as no major surprise given that he rushed for 476 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman in 2011.

Fox, a native of Bermuda who arrived at Washington Academy last year, showed off his versatility last week in leading the Raiders to the first victory of their second season as a varsity program.

Fox rushed for 174 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, and also had three pass receptions for 92 yards and two more touchdowns.

If that wasn’t enough, the senior — who didn’t play football until last year — kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to lift coach Barry Terrill’s club to a 36-35 victory over Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield. Fox was named the LTC’s player of the week for his performance in that game.

And that wasn’t even the first time Fox’s last-second dramatics have led to a WA victory. He first burst onto the scene during Week 5 of the 2011 season, scoring on a 62-yard run as time expired to give the Raiders a 38-32 victory over Calais-Woodland, their first varsity victory.

Both Fox and Shepardson will be back in action on the road this weekend as 1-3 Washington Academy plays at 0-4 Ellsworth-Sumner on Friday night while Hermon visits 0-4 Mount View of Thorndike on Saturday afternoon.

Maines guided the Red Storm to a 19-2 record last winter and a berth in the Western Maine Class A championship game where they lost to eventual state champion Catherine McAuley of Portland, a private school that has won four state crowns and eight Western Maine titles since the start of the 1999-2000 season.

He cited travel, in particular the costs involved with traveling from his home in Brunswick to Scarborough each day, as a reason for his decision to step down.

But also in the picture was his belief that the playing field between public- and private-school athletic programs is not equal and that there should be separate tournaments.

“Now I can highlight my objection,” Maines told The Forecaster, a southern Maine newspaper. “I don’t begrudge anyone getting a private education. In many cases, a private education is better than a public education, but when it comes to interscholastic play, especially basketball, with so few players, McAuley just has to pick good players from other towns like Cape, Falmouth, Greely, Scarborough and Yarmouth, who are great public education institutions. I’ve always felt that was unfair. I’ve always expressed my opinion if there’s something detrimental to the youth of a community. I get criticized for that vocalization, but others remain silent.”

Maines is perhaps best known as the boys varsity basketball coach at Morse High School in Bath from 1982 through 1993. He guided the Shipbuilders to three consecutive Class A state championships in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Guerette leads Westbrook grid rebirth

Bangor High School graduate Jeff Guerette has the Westbrook High School football team off to its best start in years.

The Blue Blazes, playing their second year in Western Maine Class B after dropping from Class A in 2011 due to declining enrollment, have begun their season by defeating both combatants in last year’s Western B championship game.

Westbrook stunned Mountain Valley of Rumford 30-0 in its opener, then last week knocked off reigning state champion Wells 28-20 to avenge a 23-6 loss to the Warriors in the 2011 regional semifinals.

The Blue Blazes face another major test Friday night when they host 2-0 Greely of Cumberland Center at Olmstead Field.

Last year, Westbrook got off to an 0-3 start in its Class B debut, then won four of its last five regular-season games to earn the No. 5 seed in Western B. The Blue Blazes then defeated No. 4 Falmouth 12-7 to earn its trip to the semifinals.

Westbrook High School had a student enrollment of 689 as of April 1.

Guerette is a 1997 graduate of Bangor High School, where as an offensive lineman and defensive end he earned All-Pine Tree Conference honors as a junior while helping the Rams win the conference title. His senior season was cut short by a compound fracture of his right leg.

Guerette graduated from Colby College in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, then earned his master’s in social studies education from the University of Maine in 2004.

He served as an assistant coach at Husson College in Bangor under his high school coach at Bangor, Gabby Price, for two seasons before joining the staff at Westbrook in 2004. Guerrette was the Blue Blazes’ freshman football coach for three years, then coached the varsity offensive line and linebackers for one season before ascending to the head coaching job in 2008.

There’s a reasonable chance these schools — winners of five of the last six Eastern Maine Class A championships — could meet again in a playoff setting two months from now.

But there’s an even greater chance that after this year they will not meet again for the foreseeable future, their rivalry a casualty of current population trends.

The Maine Principals’ Association is working to add a fourth football class statewide for the first time since the format was reduced to three classes in 1987.

The move seeks to address to the increasing number of schools fielding varsity teams, which currently stands at 76.

That growth has defied the gradual decrease in student enrollment statewide as typified by Lawrence, which would be one of the smaller schools in Eastern Maine Class B under the proposal now under consideration.

With 712 students as of April 1, Lawrence is larger than only Brewer (709) and Nokomis of Newport (704) among schools currently slotted for a four-class Eastern B.

While Bangor’s enrollment also has declined, it remains among the state’s largest schools with 1,198 students as of April 1 and will remain in Class A.

Lawrence could petition the MPA to play up a class under the four-class proposal, and the combination of recent on-field success and community pride might make such a move a popular response to the pending transition.

It’s more likely the Bulldogs will opt to play where their enrollment suggests they should play, in Class B against the likes of regional rivals Skowhegan, Messalonskee of Oakland, Cony of Augusta and Mt. Blue of Farmington, some of whom were opponents in a previous four-class world.

Before 1987, Bangor often traveled to southern Maine to face the likes of Sanford, Deering of Portland, South Portland and Westbrook to fill out its regular-season schedule — a scenario that looms anew in a four-class future with Deering, Cheverus of Portland and Portland High School all being targeted to join Eastern A.

At the same time, Lawrence and the other Pine Tree Conference schools of that era — including Skowhegan, Mt. Blue, Gardiner, Belfast, Waterville and Winslow — competed for the Class B state title.

And while Bangor-Lawrence now represents one of the more anticipated games in Eastern Maine each year, the intensity of their current football rivalry is a somewhat recent phenomenon, beginning perhaps in 2005 when the Bulldogs rallied from a 14-0 deficit for a 27-14 victory that marked the program’s return to prominence.

Were Lawrence to petition up to Class A in a future four-class arrangement, its current enrollment would leave it more than 100 students behind the next smallest school save for Cheverus, a private school of 519 students that traditionally plays a Class A schedule in all sports.

And no matter the quality of the current varsity team or the youth football program that supports it, sooner or later the enrollment differential likely would catch up with the Bulldogs.

That Lawrence has won one state title and three Eastern A titles in the last six years and has a legitimate chance to go out on top again this fall is a credit to current head coach John Hersom and his team, as well as all the preceding players, coaches and fans who have perpetuated “Bulldog Pride” for generations.

It’s a model to be respected, no matter the class.