In the proposed five-class basketball system that would approved by the MPA’s Classification Committee on Tuesday, Falmouth would move from the second-largest to the largest class. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

A proposed five-class basketball system that would double the number of teams in the large-school division gained more momentum Tuesday after securing approval from the Maine Principals’ Association’s Classification Committee.

The proposal also includes a new under-100 enrollment class for high school basketball programs.

Schools can appeal where their basketball teams are placed prior to the Classification Committee’s March 3 meeting. Should the proposal advance then, it would go for final approval from the MPA’s full membership meeting in April.

There were no large-scale changes to the basketball proposal since it was last reviewed Jan. 14, other than a decision to rename the future classes to A, B, C, D and U100, for the smallest schools with an enrollment of under 100 students. Each class is divided into a North and South region.

The current five-class system in Maine high school basketball includes a Class AA, home to the schools with the highest enrollments. A new-look Class A would become the large-school division in the new proposal. It would also expand.

Class AA features 14 boys basketball teams and 15 girls teams. Going forward, 28 schools with enrollments of 670 or more students — 16 in the South and 12 in the North — would comprise a new-look Class A.

The makeup of teams is nearly identical to what Class A resembled under the old four-class system, last used in 2014-15.

There will also be 28 teams in classes B (450-669 enrollment), C  (225-449) and D (100-224). Class B will be have 15 teams in the South and 13 in the North, Class C is an even split, and Class D has 12 in the South and 16 in the North. The Under 100 division consists of 19 teams, with nine in the South.

“Our two primary goals were to protect the smallest schools and balance the teams in the remaining classes,” said Ryan Wilkins, chair of the basketball committee and the principal at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School. “We decided not to make any more changes,” since the Jan. 14 meeting.

The new alignment will create a significant shuffle from the current system.

The new Class A South will see Noble, Massabesic (boys), Westbrook, Kennebunk, Falmouth, and Biddeford move up from the second-largest to the largest enrollment division. Also, Portland, Windham and Cheverus would shift from the large-school North to the South, joining current large-school South teams Thornton Academy, Sanford, Bonny Eagle, Deering, South Portland, Scarborough and Gorham. The Massabesic girls are already in the largest-school division.

Class A North will have current largest-school teams Lewiston, Edward Little, Bangor and Oxford Hills, joined by Hampden Academy, Mt. Ararat, Camden Hills, Brunswick, Messalonskee, Skowhegan, Mt. Blue and Brewer.

The two-year 25% experiment that allowed teams to drop to a lower class if they had won fewer than a quarter of their games the four previous seasons will not continue. Noble’s boys team, which enters the postseason as the top seed in Class A South, is one of several teams playing down.

No further football changes

The Classification Committee also chose not to take any action on appeals from several football playing schools wishing to move down in classification after seeing where they were placed by the MPA Football Committee.

That means Foxcroft Academy, which wanted to go back to Class D where it has been the North power, is now in Class C; Spruce Mountain will remain in the eight-man Large School South; and Ellsworth and the Houlton co-op will move up to eight-man Large School North.

The Classification Committee also approved the individual sport committees’ plans for indoor track, volleyball, swimming and diving, and boys and girls lacrosse. Of those, only volleyball saw any significant change.

Volleyball will add a fourth class. Class A (800-plus enrollment) is expected to have 19 teams with Biddeford, Kennebunk, Falmouth and Marshwood petitioning to stay in Class A. Class B (600-799) will have 13 teams. Cape Elizabeth, Yarmouth and York will petition to stay in Class B. Class C will be for schools between 300-599 students, with Class D for schools with enrollments of 299 or fewer. The committee also heard that Medomak Valley anticipates being a varsity volleyball team in 2025 and the current Brunswick/Mt. Ararat/Morse co-operative team will split into two programs with Brunswick/Morse in A and Mt. Ararat in B.