Girls squads have hoop dreams
Sports Editor
What a wild ride the 2009-10 schoolgirl basketball season has been. Two teams flirted with perfection for much of the season, while three others posted strong enough campaigns to earn a playoff spot.
It is on to the postseason for the Presque Isle, Central Aroostook, Fort Fairfield, Ashland and Washburn squads, while Easton and Limestone-MSSM will have to wait until next season to reverse their fortunes.
In Eastern Class D, Central Aroostook (16-2, 111.7284 Heal Points), by virtue of its win over Fort Fairfield in the regular season, secured the No. 1 seed in the 20-team region. Fort Fairfield (17-1, 90.0508) finished second, while Washburn (13-5, 65.5229) was fourth; Ashland (8-10, 30.5919) was ninth; Easton (7-11, 25.9168) was 11th; and Limestone-MSSM (3-15, 7.0352) was 16th.
Easton came so very close to qualifying for the postseason, falling a mere 1.398 points shy of the 10th and final spot in Eastern Class D.
Central Aroostook, Washburn and Fort Fairfield earned first-round byes and will play at the Bangor Auditorium in the quarterfinal round. Ashland must win a preliminary playoff in order to make it to Bangor.
In Eastern Class B, Presque Isle (17-1, 143.5185 Heal Points) finished first, while Caribou (8-10, 58.8704) was ninth.
The playoffs commenced Tuesday with preliminary playoffs. The quarterfinals in Bangor are slated for Saturday, Feb. 13 and Monday, Feb. 15, while the semifinals are set for Wednesday and Thursday.
Presque Isle punched a ticket directly to Bangor as the Wildcats will play a quarterfinal game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s preliminary contest between No. 8 Waterville (11-7, 67.5309 points) and No. 9 Caribou (8-10, 57.8704).
“It’s fantastic,” Hudson said. “I’m proud as heck to finish No. 1 because when the season started, all we were hoping for was to maybe get a prelim game and hopefully get to the tournament. So finishing first is a lot more than any of us could have hoped for.”
For a time, the Wildcats flirted with a perfect season, winning their first 13 games. Presque Isle’s only blemish on the season was a 55-36 loss at Mount Desert Island Jan. 20.
Presque Isle defeated Caribou twice on the regular season — 53-28 at Caribou and 46-35 at home. The Wildcats did not face Waterville during the regular season, but did host the defending Class B state champion Purple Panthers in a preseason exhibition game.
If the Wildcats face the Vikings, Hudson said his squad would be tasked with beating a team for the third time on the season, which is never an easy task. Add to that fact, facing a cross-town rival on the floor of Bangor could be very interesting considering Caribou played Presque Isle much tougher in their second meeting.
If Presque Isle faces Waterville, coach Hudson said the game would be a good opportunity to face a three-time state champion squad, albeit with a few different members.
“We are certainly not the same team that played Waterville in the preseason,” Hudson said. “We played them all man in the preseason, but we won’t do that in Bangor.”
Hudson said if the Wildcats face Waterville, Presque Isle could actually be considered the underdog, despite the No. 1 seeding.
“They are a tough matchup for us because their guards are a lot like our guards,” he said. “What worries me about Waterville is their senior leadership. They have kids who have been there [in the state game]. But I am confident in our kids and hope they are excited by the challenge.”
Waterville and Presque Isle did not play any common opponents during the regular season.
If Presque Isle is victorious, the Wildcats would advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 8:35 p.m. against the winner of No. 4 Nokomis vs. No. 5 Medomak Valley.
No. 9 Ashland traveled to No. 8 Jonesport-Beals Tuesday for a 4 p.m. preliminary playoff. If Ashland wins that game, it advances to face Central Aroostook in the quarterfinals, Monday, Feb. 15 at 8:35 p.m.
“We are very happy with qualifying for the tournament,” Ashland coach Kevin Paradis said. “One more win and we will accomplish two of our pre-season goals. We wanted to win more than eight games and make it to Bangor.”
Paradis said facing an unfamiliar opponent like Jonesport-Beals could be challenging.
“I don’t know much about Jonesport,” he said. “I do know they lost six of their first seven games on the season, but won their last six games. They appear to be peaking.”
Paradis said some initial scouting revealed the Royals have improved their shooting from the perimeter, but have struggled with zone defenses at times during the season. To be successful, Paradis outlined his game plan for Tuesday.
“Our goals are simple,” he said. “Limit turnovers; challenge all shots; and box out. Offensively, we can’t settle for the long 3-pointer initially. We must fake and drive; feed the low post; and make our free throws.”
The Hornets’ roster is nearly 100 percent, but senior Jessica Jimmo has struggled with a knee injury for much of the season. Paradis held her out of the final game of the regular season, in the hopes that the rest would allow her to be effective for the playoffs.
“I am very blessed to be coaching such a great bunch of girls,” he said. “It has never seemed important to them as to who is scoring. The only thing that matters is that we score more as a team. We have several defenses that we have used all year. To be honest, we are not working on anything new at this point. I am very happy with our team morale right now. They really do want to win Tuesday in Jonesport.”
A win for the Hornets would result in Ashland facing Central Aroostook for the third time on the season. CAHS beat Ashland 47-25 at Mars Hill and 51-23 in Ashland.
“I was hoping that Ashland would finish as the eighth seed so I could go watch that game,” CAHS coach Rod Codrey said.
The coach said it has been a long time since CAHS finished as the No. 1 seed and it was something the squad was not taking lightly.
“The girls worked real hard this year and have been real receptive to the stuff that I wanted them to do,” he said. “They don’t learn just one play. They run a bunch of them.”
The Panthers have a lengthy layoff before their quarterfinal game, but coach Codrey said he wanted to be cautious about not practicing too much in the coming week.
“You have to try to keep things interesting for the team,” he said. “We will have a scrimmage against Houlton Thursday [Feb. 11] and on Tuesday we’ll play against some former Panthers. If they practice hard and stay focused, I think we will be ready for Bangor.”
The Beavers of Washburn will face No. 5 Bangor Christian (15-3, 63.1173) Monday, Feb. 15 at 7:05 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Washburn did not face Bangor Christian on the regular season and did not have any common opponents on its schedule.
“I think it’s very cool,” Washburn coach Mike Carlos said of the trip directly to Bangor for a quarterfinal. “I came into the season not knowing what to expect, since it was my first year with the team. We’re very happy with what we have accomplished so far.”
Carlos said he scouted Bangor Christian against Katahdin during the regular season.
“They have a big player inside and will probably try to feed her the ball in the post, which will be a challenge for us,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of inside size. I’m working on the team’s mental things right now. To win a game at this level, it’s all about what is between the ears.”
Fort Fairfield faces the winner of Tuesday’s No. 7 Shead/No. 10 Schenck preliminary playoff when the Tigers take to the Bangor Auditorium 11:05 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15. Fort Fairfield did not face either squad during the regular season and did not have any common opponents on its schedule.
Tiger coach Larry Gardner said he saw Schenck play at Houlton during the regular season, but had not seen Shead.
“I think Schenck is much better than its No. 10 ranking,” Gardner said. “They play a predominantly Class C schedule, so they have had a lot of good competition.”
Gardiner said he planned to go to Tuesday’s preliminary game to do some scouting in order to prepare for the Tigers quarterfinal.
Considering the unknown factors coming into the season, Gardner said he was amazed at what his team has accomplished this year.
“It’s surprising,” he said. “You always hope to do well, but I came into the season losing seven players from last year and had to bring in six freshmen, so I didn’t really know what to expect. To finish No. 2, that’s pretty special.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Presque Isle’s Kayla Richards, left, and Caribou’s Dayna Michaud go for the loose ball.
Staff Photo/Joseph Cyr
Driving to the hoop is Central Aroostook’s Rachel Grew, right, as Fort Fairfield’s Brooke Beaulieu defends during what turned out to be a battle for the No. 1 seed during the regular season.
