A 14-4 regular season for the John Stark boys basketball team preceded a stinging upset loss to rival Kearsarge in the quarterfinals of the Class I boys basketball tournament.

But coach Mike Smith said the pieces are in place for his team to make a postseason run in 2008.

“The expectations the boys have set for themselves are pretty high,” he said.

Along with hosting a firstround playoff game and making it back to Durham, where the University of New Hampshire serves as host site for the remainder of Class I’s postseason, Smith said his players have championship aspirations.

But the season, he warned, could fall short of his players’ preseason optimism if they can’t play consistent basketball.

“Class I, like it is most years, is sort of wide open, and there are four to six teams that are pretty good. And then there are about that many teams that are just below them that can beat one of those better teams on any given night,” said Smith. “Right now, I’d say we’re probably between those two groups.”

During the summer, the Generals won a tournament at Plymouth State University playing up against New Hampshire Class L teams and squads from Massachusetts and Maine.

“It opened (the players’) eyes at how good they can be, but consistency and playing at that level on a nightly basis will be the key to how far we go,” said Smith. “It’s all about consistency.”

The Generals return four seniors; all saw significant playing time last season, and all have been named captains for the upcoming run, something their mentor admitted is unusual.

But all four – Zach Morrill- Winter, Shane Arsenault, Gavin Sappier and Ben Titcomb – bring individual strengths and personalities to the team, said the eight-year coach.

“As our point guard, Zach will be the leader on the floor in terms of doing everything we need of him to win games,” said Smith. “Ben is a quiet kid, but he’s one of our top rebounders and also someone who is very athletic for us and does a lot of little things that often go unnoticed.”

“Shane and Gavin both have this incredible lockerroom presence, but also work really hard out there during practice,” he continued. “The whole group has set a strong tempo so far in that we’ve had some very strong, competitive practices early on.”

Kevin LeBlond, a shooting guard who contributed late last year, and junior Travis Mateuzzi, a 6-foot-6 backup center, are also expected to play pivotal roles.

Two newcomers who have impressed Smith thus far are Ethan Moore and Nick Campono, an all-state soccer player. Both are juniors who played JV hoops last season.

“I think we’ll have a very exciting team. We’ll be up and down (the floor) a lot. If we can, we like to get into our fast-paced tempo early and play defense the entire length of the floor the entire game,” said Smith.

“Nobody out there is a 40-point-per- game scorer, but we have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket and share the load. It’s a very fun brand of basketball to watch.”