By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The Southern Aroostook Warriors finished their season last Wednesday night in Easton, as they were overtaken 61-54 in a playoff game.
The Warriors complete their season with a 12-7 record.
Easton was led by a balanced scoring attack with Hunter Turner recording a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Logan Halverson netted 17 points (five, 3-pointers) and Jared Hafford tossed in another 16 points.
DRIVES — Hodgdon’s Chris Hudson drives to the lane during Monday night’s game against Deer Isle-Stonington. The Hawks advance.
The Warriors were led by Jesse Boulier with 21 points and Cam Landry added 16 more.
Easton advanced to last Saturday night’s Class D quarterfinal game against No. 1 Jonesport-Beals at the Bangor Auditorium.
Playing their last season for the “purple and white” are seniors Boulier and Mason Caron. The Warriors will return eight players from this year’s squad, which will be joined by a “strong eighth-grade class,” said coach Bill McAvoy.
McAvoy has 30-plus years of coaching experience and helped the Warriors improve their 7-11 record and 18th place finish a year ago to becoming a contender in a preliminary game.
FOCUSED — Houlton’s Nick Guiod keeps focused on the rim as a Bucksport defender flys by during Tuesday’s Class C quarterfinal game in Bangor. If the Shires win, they will advance to Friday’s semifinals at the Auditorium. The Houlton girls played late Tuesday night.
The Bears took a 15-10 first-quarter lead, with the Warriors on their tails at intermission, 29-27. The Bears never gave up a lead at the breaks, as they pushed the score to 42-37 at the end of three.
Lady Warriors struggle
The Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors were struggling at the end of the regular season and that carried over into their preliminary game with host Van Buren.
The No. 6 Crusaders overpowered the No. 11 Lady Warriors, 64-32, behind Parise Rossignol, who scored 25 first-half points to finish with a game-high 35 points, outscoring Southern Aroostook as a team.
Rossignol finished the game with 11 rebounds, 10 assists and four blocked shots. Teammate Felisha Bouchard added 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Lady Warriors trailed 24-8 to open the game and by halftime, Southern Aroostook remained behind by the same amount, 37-21. In the third, Van Buren outscored Southern Aroostook, 19-3.
Sable Altvater led Southern Aroostook with 16 points.
Playing their last game for Southern Aroostook are seniors Kristen Tarr, Desirae Dubois, Beth Bishop, Rai Kinney and Katie Goodall.
Coach Harris Tucker returns a strong starting core of players in Jess Tucker, Mataya Hartin and Altvater in hopes of having a better run in the postseason next year.
