BUCKFIELD — Whether they’ve been the favorite or the challenger, there’s always been another foe to fuel anticipation.

Last year, it was a late-season showdown with Forest Hills. The year before, Richmond was the other team to beat in Western D. Prior to that, it was Valley.

Over the last decade, Rangeley has always had at least one team that made for that exciting regular-season showdown and test. So far, the Lakers schedule has lacked that.

“We definitely miss having the better type of competition and having someone to look forward to playing our type of basketball against,” junior forward Blayke Morin said. “We still come out and play our type of basketball.”

The unbeaten Lakers (10-0) have had their way through the regular-season schedule so far. Between a seasoned Rangeley team, with most everyone back from last year’s club, to a number of East-West Conference teams that lost significant talent and field younger and inexperienced squads, the Lakers came into the season as the clear favorite — and nothing has changed so far.

“I think coming down the stretch here we’re going to have some good games,” Rangeley coach Heidi Deery said. “As we kind of wind down, we’re preparing for the tournament every day. We know that it’s going to be about how we play. We have to focus on what we can do and what we can stop the other team from doing. I think that’s our big focus.”

The Lakers play Forest Hills (11-1) Friday. Rangeley lost to the Tigers at the buzzer in the regional final. Though Forest Hills lost some key talent from last year’s, it could offer Rangeley the best test so far. The Lakers also play at unbeaten Hyde (7-0) next Tuesday.

“Every game is about getting better and building to what we can accomplish each week,” Deery said. “I do feel like we’re getting there in some aspects of our game, but there’s always more things to work on.”

Losing at the buzzer on a last-ditch 3-pointer in the regional championship was a heartbreaking loss, but the Lakers aren’t dwelling on that. Their focus is preparing for the future. A rematch against the Tigers Friday might be the kind of challenge they’ve craved.

“The loss is a loss,” Morin said. “We’ve turned over a new leaf. We’ve thought about it, but the game doesn’t stop until the clock strikes zero.”

With so many lopsided victories, the Lakers have been focusing on building toward this year’s finish. Though it dominated most opponents so far, winning by an average of nearly 50 points, Rangeley is still pushing hard for February.

“We’re definitely motivated,” senior guard Seve Deery-DeRaps said. “In practice we’ve been working on making it as game-like as possible and bringing the intensity and pushing each other. So when we get to the games, we’ve already been pushed.”

That’s included bringing in outside help to challenge them in practice. They’ve played against males and veteran alumni. There’s no shortage of former Rangeley players that have experience on the court.

“We have alumni that came in and practiced with us, some alumni that played college ball,” Deery-DeRaps said. “It helped us. That really pushed us. When we leave practice, our goal is that everyone has improved a little bit every day.”

Through 10 games, the Lakers have averaged 66.7 points while allowing just 17. The closest win came opening night — a 20-point victory over Richmond.  It can be hard to prepare for the rigors of the Western D tourney when the regular season games come so easily. The last thing the Lakers want to be is complacent.

“The goal is to think about tournament time and practice like it’s the tournament,” Morin said. “We have to communicate and have a good vibe,  a good communication-type feel with your team and be ready for the tournament at the end.”

The Lakers have all the makings of a championship team. They only graduated guard Tori Letarte from last year. She was a veteran player and leader, but the Lakers returned eight from last year.

Senior forward Taylor Esty just recently scored her 1,000thpoint and is a driving force both offensively and defensively. Deery-DeRaps is a threat from the outside and play maker while Morin is a tough and versatile matchup in the post. All three are returning starters as is junior guard Maddison Egan. Senior Valerie-Roy Lessard and junior Michaela Shorey also return with sophomore Celia Philbrick and freshman Natasha Haley,  giving Rangeley a deep squad.

Rangeley has some tests on the road with games at Forest Hills, Hyde and Valley next week but finish with four straight at home. Still, the Lakers won’t see teams like Pine Tree (9-1) and Searsport (5-5) in the regular season. Both will be a bit of a mystery if the Lakers face them in the tourney.

“Every night we want to get better,” Deery said. “Whether we’re practicing or playing and whoever we’re playing, we want to be better at the end of the night and take something away from that game and make ourselves better.”

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