The third- and fourth-grade boys Aroostook Youth Basketball League teams gathered in the Caribou High School gym to compete in their annual tournament. The day was action packed as 13 games were played, a two-ball competition was held, prizes were raffled, and medals, T-shirts, and trophies were awarded.
The third- and fourth-grade division consisted of eight teams this year, but Fort Kent was unable to make it for the March 24 tourney. In order to make an even two-pool tournament with four teams in each bracket, an eighth team was made up specifically for the tournament, named the Caribou All-Stars. Some of the players for the All-Star team were either older or younger than the other teams competing, and as a result, they were not eligible for the championship game. The team, coached by Art Berkoski, proved to be very competitive and had fun.
Pool one consisted of teams from Caribou East, Presque Isle Blue, Washburn and the newly appointed All-Stars. Pool two had Houlton, Caribou West, PI White and Madawaska.
After an afternoon of games, the two teams that made it into the final championship game were Houlton and Caribou East. Caribou East finished on top of the Northern Division and Houlton dominated the Southern Division.
The Caribou team slowed the pace down in the first quarter of the championship game in order to dampen the fast-breaking Shiretowners. The strategy worked as Houlton finished with a 4-2 lead. Houlton picked up the defensive pressure and got the running game going in the second quarter. The Shires finished with a 16-4 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw both teams begin to pick up the offense and exchange baskets. Early in the fourth quarter, Houlton held a 36-17 lead, but Caribou mounted a late charge that had the crowd on their feet and made things interesting.
Caribou utilized a full-court press and converted steals and hot shooting into baskets. They managed to cut the lead to seven points, but the Shires came out on top with a final score of 39-30.
Medals and T-shirts were awarded to all the participants at the tournament. The two-ball shooting competition was won by Garrett Putnam and Garrett Ring, of Houlton.
The following players were selected for the All-Tournament Team based on their outstanding play: Nick Raineri, Ben Nickerson and Cody McGlinn, for PI Blue; Chase Norton, for PI White; Kyle Bouchard and Chandler Brewer, for Houlton; Jarrett Olson and Cameron Bragg, for Washburn; Luc Daigle represented Madawaska; Carter Chabot and Colby Holdsworth, for Caribou West; and Dayne Savage, Donovan Savage and Austin Griffeth were Caribou East’s all-tourney representatives.
Third-graders playing for the Caribou East team were Paul Hanson, Mason Huck, Gabriel Massey and Donovan Savage. Fourth-grade players were Justin Akerson, Austin Griffeth, Kristopher Michaud, Dayne Savage, Taylor Thibodeau and Nate Wyman.
For the Caribou West team, third-grade players were Nick Frost, Michael Hunter, Ethan Plourde and Caleb Willett. The West fourth-graders were Dustin Bouchard, Carter Chabot, Thomas Herrin, Colby Holdsworth, Michael Marquis and Corey Moir, of Woodland.
The third-grade PI Blue team members were Tyler Ayotte; Michael Mahon, of Westfield; and Byron Winslow. Fourth-grade Blue team members were Chris Carroll, Dustin Clark, Brenden Goulet, Cody McGlinn, of Mapleton, Jacob Mills, Ben Nickerson, Nick Raineri and Chris Stepp.
Playing for the PI White team were third-graders Grant Hemphill, Brycen Libby and Nicolas Shields. Fourth-grade team members were Clint Adler, Austin Albert, Benjamin Buckley, Grayden Hemphill, Keeghan Lowe, Isaac Michaud, Chase Norton, Andrew Paterson and Noah Rossignol, from Mapleton.
This year’s Washburn team included third-graders Noah Caron, Brandon Cropley, Brandon Farley, Jarrett Olson, Dylan Sadler and Parker Thompson. The fourth-graders on the young Beavers team were Cameron Bragg, Michael Ericson, Noah Farley and Kenneth Irving. McCall Turner was also listed on the roster as the lone second-grader on the team.
The Caribou All-Star team, created for the tournament, included Bailey Griffeth, in first grade; Hunter Millard and Austin Scott, both in third grade; for the fourth-graders it was Mackenzie Worcester and Sarah Doak; and the fifth-graders playing on the team were Alex Scott, Dylan Berkoski, Michael Boone, Breen Blackstone, Matt Manter, Carmen Bragg and Nicole Olson.
