Presque Isle wins County recreation title
CARIBOU — A team from Presque Isle has captured the 40th Northern Maine Recreation Center Association Boys’ County Basketball Tournament title.
Nine teams from Mars Hill, Ashland, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle, Washburn, Limestone, Madawaska and Caribou took part in the tournament, which was hosted by the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department March 23-24.
In the first game of the tourney, Mars Hill matched up with Limestone. Multiple scorers for Mars Hill led them past Limestone, 39-16. Caleb Harris was high scorer for Mars Hill with eight points. Limestone’s top scorer was Jake Hatfield with 10 points. Mars Hill moved on to play Madawaska in the next round.
Game two was a matchup between Caribou and Ashland. Caribou got the upper hand early and never looked back, outscoring Ashland 35-6. Caribou’s top finisher was Noah Heidorn with seven points. Dawson Hebert had a good day distributing the ball and also ended up with six points. Ashland had three players with two points apiece, Steven Belanceau, Dane Durrand and Alex Kaiser.
Saturday morning started game three with Presque Isle and Washburn going head to head. Presque Isle started out strong going up and down the court with their speed and size. Jonah Hudson had 10 points, followed by eight points each from William Bridges, Adam Paterson, Carter Rice and Ryle Mortland in the victory. Quintin Thompson was the top scorer for Washburn.
In game four, Mars Hill maintained a comfortable lead over Madawaska for most of the contest until the fourth quarter. Madawaska put the press on and started making a comeback outscoring Mars Hill, 11-2, in the fourth. Mars Hill hung on though to pull out the victory, 29-22. Madawaska’s Ben Herbert was top scorer with 13 points. Max Gendreau added nine for the Owls. Caleb Harris was leading scorer for Mars Hill with nine points. Colby Kingsbury followed close behind with eight points.
Fort Fairfield came away with a win against Easton in game six. Jared Harvey and Malcolm Langner both netted 11 points followed by Isaac Cyr and Jonah Daigle with eight each for the Fort Tigers. Easton’s Collin Sotomayer chipped in with four points, Carson Flewelling, Noah Hanscomb and Matt Poole each had two.
In the first semifinal game Presque Isle and Caribou battled in a good game. It was close for much of the contest but Presque Isle pulled away with a great third quarter, outscoring the Vikings, 10-2. The fourth quarter was much the same with the Wildcats pouring in seven more to keep the lead and move on with the win to enter the championship game. Caribou’s Nick Allen was impressive on both defense and offense, netting eight points. Griffen Guerrette, point guard for the ‘Cats, handled the ball well and controlled the offense. Guerrette had 11 points with Randon Mortland contributing nine.
The second semifinal game between Fort Fairfield and Mars Hill ended in favor of the Fort Tigers, 36-19. Isaac Cyr was hot from the field with 16 points. Jared Harvey was right behind Cyr dumping in 14. Colby Kingsbury’s six points led Mars Hill.
In the championship game, Presque Isle came out of the gates strong with 14 points in the first quarter. The strong start put Fort Fairfield on their heels, but Tiger Isaac Cyr kept his team in the game with 17. The Wildcats would not let their lead slip away and captured the 2012 Boys’ County Championship, 33-23. Guerrette paced Presque Isle with 12 points. Ry. and Ra. Mortland both added six points.
Making the All-Tournament Team were Allen from Caribou, Harris from Mars Hill, Cyr from Fort Fairfield and Guerrette and Ra. Mortland from Presque Isle.
