Ashland boys fall in play-in contest
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The Ashland Hornet boys made a valiant comeback attempt, but fell short in Monday’s playoff game against Van Buren at the University of Maine at Fort Kent to determine which team would take the 15th and final playoff slot in Eastern Maine Class D.
Trailing at one point by 20, Ashland rallied in the fourth quarter but still ended up on the short end of a 53-48 score.
Marc Lajoie and Caleb Roy had 19 points each for Van Buren, who will now face No. 2 Washburn in a 7 p.m. prelim game tonight in Washburn.
Cody Blair’s 25 points led the Hornets, while Tyler Levesque posted nine.
Ashland had beaten Van Buren in both regular season matchups.
Summaries of games to close out the regular season follow:
Washburn boys 72, Easton 44 — At Washburn Friday, Mitchell Worcester scored 42 points and added seven rebounds, five steals and five assists after he was honored on Senior Night as the Beavers cruised to the victory.
The win by Washburn gave the team a 17-1 record, the best mark ever recorded by a boys’ basketball team at the school.
Cameron Bragg scored 10 points and Nick Bragg, the team’s other senior, notched eight.
Hunter Turner had 16 points as Easton’s lone double-digit scorer.
Fort Fairfield girls 40, Central Aroostook 39 — The Tigers battled back after trailing by six points with three minutes to play to pull off the win over the Panthers in Mars Hill Thursday.
Sydney Churchill had 15 points and Taylor Churchill netted 10 for the winners, who improved to 14-4.
Page Fletcher’s 14 points led CA.
Ashland 53, Van Buren 45 — Nick Belanger was one of four double-figure scorers for the Hornets, netting 16 points as the Hornets won at Van Buren Thursday.
Levesque (13), Blair (12) and Alex Chasse (12) were the others leading the Ashland offense.
Lajoie netted 19 for the Crusaders.
Central Aroostook 66, Katahdin 58 — Chandler Brewer fired in 30 points, including a 15-for-17 effort from the foul line, as the Panthers ended a four-game losing streak by topping Katahdin in Stacyville Thursday.
Steven Decker and Dustin Pryor added 14 and 11 points, respectively, for CA.
Colton Bivighouse poured in 30 for the Cougars.
Presque Isle girls 85, Caribou 34 — At Caribou Thursday, the Wildcats ran away with it early by tallying 32 first-quarter points en route to their 18h victory to cap their second consecutive undefeated season.
Hannah Graham paced the winners with 25 points, while Chandler Guerrette scored 18 and Krystal Kingbury came off the bench to put in 14.
Alexa Massey’s 13 points led Caribou.
CARMEN BRAGG 
of the Washburn Beavers dribbles the ball against Easton’s Kylee Carter during last Wednesday’s game.
Washburn girls 49, Easton 35 — The Beavers were held to 18 first-half points, but came on strong late in the win at Easton last Wednesday.
Mackenzie Worcester scored 20 and Carmen Bragg 12 to lead Washburn, who ended up with a perfect 18-0 record.
Presque Isle boys 69, Fort Kent 48 — On Senior Night at PIHS, Tyler Brooks had 15 points and six assists, while Jonah Stephenson tallied 13 points and Cody Lyford 11 as the Wildcats rolled.
Charles Nadeau had 17 for the Warriors, who were outscored 30-13 in the second quarter.
Easton boys 63, Van Buren 55 — Last Tuesday in Van Buren, the Bears outscored the Crusaders 21-10 over the final eight minutes to notch the win.
Logan Halvorson had 19 points and Turner scored 18 for the winners. Jared Hafford also hit double figures with 13.
Roy fired in 17 for Van Buren.
Washburn boys 82, Central Aroostook 50 — Last Tuesday, the Beavers pounded the Panthers at home behind Worcester’s statistical triple-double of 39 points, 17 boards and 12 steals.
Cameron Bragg scored 13 and Nick Bragg contributed 10 for Washburn.
Steven Decker’s 18 points led the Panthers.
Fort Fairfield boys 54, Madawaska 43 — Four players reached double figures, led by Andrew Lewis’s 12 points, in the Tigers’ home win last Tuesday.
Nate Guimond and Logan Craig scored 11 points each and Andrew Tuck tossed in 10 for Fort Fairfield, which finished with a 9-9 regular season record.
Fort Fairfield girls 60, Madawaska 18 — Senior Rebekah Pelkey drained four three-pointers to finish with 14 points and lead the Tigers to the victory.
