Caribou was the host and winner of the 39th Aroostook County Pee Wee Basketball Tournament, held March 26 at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center gymnasium.
In the finals, Caribou and Fort Fairfield battled hard in the paint with Fort Fairfield taking the early 13-7 lead after one period. Caribou got to within four at halftime and tied the game after three quarters as its man-to-man defense was a huge factor in limiting Fort Fairfield’s fast-break opportunities.
With the full-court press in the fourth, Caribou was able to hang with Fort Fairfield basket for basket and with seconds left on the clock, Nick Allen got a key steal and converted the layup to put Caribou up by a point. With just six seconds to go, Fort Fairfield got the ball back but could not inbound the ball due to spectacular defense from Allen, who again stole the ball and this time was fouled. With Caribou in the double bonus, Allen stepped to the line and hit both clutch free throws to give his team the 37-34 victory.
Carter Bruce of Fort Fairfield was high scorer in the game with 12 points. Allen had 10 to pace Caribou.
In the first game of the tourney, Presque Isle took on a very tough Easton team, with the Bears winning 51-49 in overtime. With great shooting from Griffen Guerrette of Presque Isle, who tallied 21 points, the Wildcats were able to stay in contention. However, Easton’s Jake Flewelling was tough on the defensive and offensive glass thoughout and managed to put up a grand total of 39 points as Easton prevailed.
Game two between Limestone and Ashland started out close with the advantage going to Limestone after the first quarter 10-9. Limestone started to pull away in the second quarter before going on cruise control for the 43-27 win. Nathan Boulier had a team-high 11 points for Limestone, while Kyle Soetart Beaulier finished with 22 for Ashland.
Caribou played Mars Hill in the third game of the day. The Vikings got off to a good jump with plenty of scoring from everyone. Josiah Krul set the tone by hitting for 11 points along with Zach Wright scoring nine. Mars Hill’s leading scorer was Zack Crouch with seven points, but Caribou came out on top in this contest, 53-14.
In the first semi-final game, Fort Fairfield, who drew a first-round bye, faced Easton. The Tigers did not waste any time and got off to a great start with an 18-3 lead at halftime. Jacques Hebert was Fort’s big scoring machine with 15 points in the game. Flewelling got hot in the second half and put up 10 points to start a comeback for his team, but it was too late to catch Fort as the Bears fell, 35-19.
The second semifinal featured Caribou against Limestone. The hosts held a 10-point lead after the first quarter and finished the half up 19-8. Caribou came out strong in the second half and pulled away for the 32-19 victory. Noah Heidorn finished as lead scorer for the winners with 10 points. Limestone’s Chris Caldwell netted 11 points in a losing cause.
Making up the all-tournament team were Easton’s Flewelling and Limestone’s Caldwell along with Caribou’s Krul and Allen and Fort Fairfield’s Ryan Player and Bruce.
