Several basketball teams faring well
The basketball regular season has reached the midway point for most teams and many are at or near the top in the Heal Point rankings.
The Presque Isle girls, despite last Tuesday’s home loss to Mount Desert Island, remain less than a point ahead of the Trojans for the top seed in Eastern Maine Class B.
The Caribou boys lost two straight, but still are in seventh place in the B ranks with their 4-3 record. The Vikes next tangle with rival Presque Isle at home tonight.
In Class D, the girls’ standings show Washburn at No. 1, while Easton is fourth and Fort Fairfield fifth. The Beavers and Tigers met in Washburn Tuesday in a battle of undefeated teams. Limestone-MSSM and Central Aroostook are 12th and 13th, respectively, and in playoff contention, heading into their matchup in Mars Hill on Thursday.
The Washburn Beavers continue to lead the charge in the boys’ Class D standings. They are a perfect 7-0 entering tonight’s home game against Ashland. Fort Fairfield is in third place with its 6-2 mark and Easton is sixth, also at 6-2. The two teams met in a hard-fought contest Saturday in Easton, with the Bears able to sneak out with the win.
Central Aroostook, which has lost senior standout guard Chandler Brewer for the season with a knee injury, is 2-5 and in 13th position, while the Hornets, also 2-5, hold the 15th and final playoff-qualifying slot.
Summaries of games played through Monday follow:
Houlton boys 77, Presque Isle 40 — At Presque Isle Monday, Houlton outscored the Wildcats by a 23-9 margin in the first quarter and cruised behind a balanced scoring attack, with Kyle Bouchard and Noah Holmes each tossing in 12 points for the defending Class C state champions.
Kyle Rider and Randon Mortland tallied six points each for the 1-8 Wildcats.
Easton 52, Central Aroostook 33 — A 20-3 scoring run in the fourth quarter broke open what was a close game throughout as the Bears won their fourth in a row in Mars Hill Monday.
Kalie Ward, Kylee Carter and Hannah Ferris scored 12 points apiece in the victory for Easton, now 7-3 overall heading into Thursday’s rematch against Fort Fairfield.
Karli Levesque netted 10 points and Kassie Levesque added nine for the 4-4 Panthers.
Presque Isle girls 70, Hermon 41 — Hannah Graham scored a game-high 21 points to help Presque Isle roll past the Hawks Saturday in Hermon.
Krystal Kingsbury and Emily Lagerstrom tossed in nine each for the 8-1 Wildcats, who took a 42-11 lead into intermission.
Shelby Caron and Katie Corey paced Hermon with 10 points each.
Washburn girls 69, Ashland 15 — The Beavers remained undefeated and the Hornets stayed winless following Saturday’s rout in Ashland.
Mackenzie Worcester tossed in a game-high 24 points and also contributed nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals as Washburn improved to 8-0.
Joan Overman tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Laina Mette chipped in with 11 points.
Ashland, which fell to 0-8, was led by Morgan Doughty with six points.
Easton boys 39, Fort Fairfield 36 — At Easton Saturday, the Bears avenged an early-season loss as Logan Halvorson hit three free throws in the final five seconds to break a tie.
The game was tied 36-36 before Tiger head coach Logan McLaughlin was assessed a technical foul. Halvorson hit one of the two technical free throws and then was fouled when the ball was put back in play a second later and drained both of his attempts.
Jake Flewelling led the Bears, now 6-2, with 14 points and Halvorson chipped in with 13.
Hunter Beaulieu paced the 6-2 Tigers with 14 points.
Hermon boys 62, Presque Isle 38 — The teams met for the second time in 11 days and although the first meeting was close until the final minutes, this one was decided early.
The home team Hawks scored the game’s first seven points and led 18-4 after a quarter and 37-14 at halftime.
Ben Buckley scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds for PI in the loss, while Griffin Guerrette had nine points.
Van Buren boys 54, Ashland 45 — At Van Buren Friday, Andre Rossignol connected for a game-high 24 points to power Van Buren to victory. Thomas Lajoie scored 17 points and Justin Sytulek netted 11 for the Crusaders.
Mark Chasse and Michael Cook netted 11 points each to lead Ashland, which dropped to 2-5.
Fort Kent boys 59, Central Aroostook 38 —Fort Kent’s Anthony Desjardins scored 14 points to lead the Warriors to the victory Friday in Mars Hill.
Caleb Harris was the offensive leader for the Panthers with 14 points, with Riley McGrath tossing in another 12.
Washburn boys 71, Wisdom 43 — The Beavers led by only a point at halftime before using a 28-9 scoring in the third quarter to blow the game open Friday.
Jarrett Olson powered host Washburn with 23 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Cameron Bragg tallied 14 points while Cameron Preston chipped in with seven points, six boards and five blocked shots.
Derek Roy scored 24 points for the Pioneers.
Central Aroostook girls 46, Fort Kent 38 —Kelsey Dominique scored 13 points Friday to lead the Panthers to the overtime win over the Warriors in Mars Hill.
Karli Levesque posted 11 points, while Molly Anthony and Jessica Thomas added nine each for CA.
Fort Kent’s Mackenzie Saucier was tops in scoring for her team with 13.
Easton girls 47, Hodgdon 20 — Madison Leach poured in a career-high 17 points, to go along with 12 rebounds, as the Bears beat the Hawks Friday. Kylee Carter and Taylor Howe added 10 and eight points, respectively, for Easton.
Janelle Goff led the winless Hawks with eight points.
Washburn girls 62, Wisdom 33 — Worcester led all scorers with 29 points, including four three-pointers, to power the Beavers over Wisdom Friday in Washburn.
Overman and Mette each netted nine points and Emmy Churchill tossed in eight for the winners.
Tyra Michaud tallied 11 points for the Pioneers.
Mount Desert Island boys 80, Presque Isle 55 — The score was tied at halftime last Tuesday, but the Trojans pulled away in the second half to defeat the Wildcats in Presque Isle for their first win of the season. Riley Swanson tossed in 15 points and Aaron Snurkowski chipped in with 14 for MDI.
Presque Isle was led by Buckley’s 13 points, with Guerrette chipping in with 10 and Andrew Paterson nine.
Easton boys 62, Madawaska 23 — The Bears jumped out to a 17-5 lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to the victory over the Owls last Tuesday. Logan Halvorson led all scorers with 15 points and Flewelling chipped in with 10 for the Bears
Gendreau had 10 points for Madawaska.
Fort Fairfield boys 69, Van Buren 47 — At Fort Fairfield last Tuesday, Robbie Watson led a balanced-scoring attack with 21 points to help lift the Tigers to victory over the Crusaders. Johnny Theriault added 13 points, Chris Giberson chipped in with 12 and Beaulieu had 11 for the winners.
Justin Sytulek paced Van Buren with 20 points.
Washburn girls 68, Central Aroostook 28 — Worcester had another big game with 28 points as the Beavers prevailed on the road in Mars Hill last Tuesday.
Emmy Churchill added 12 points and Mette eight for Washburn, which led by just two points after the first quarter before taking over.
Karli Levesque and Anthony each scored eight to lead the Panthers.
Easton girls 56, Madawaska 35 — Last Tuesday at Easton, Isabelle Morin and Hannah Ferris each scored 13 points as the hosts prevailed.
Ward scored 12 and Elise Allen nine in the win.
Desiree Belanger led the Owls with 11 points.
Fort Fairfield girls 48, Van Buren 47 — The Tigers came back from seven points down with a little over two minutes to play to pull out the pointworthy win over Van Buren at home last Tuesday.
Teresa Maynard’s 22-point effort led all scorers, followed by Taylor Churchill and Chelsey Pelkey with nine points apiece. Kayla Giberson added seven points in the team’s fifth straight win to begin the season.
For Van Buren, Courtney Parent scored 20 points, including three three-pointers. Felisha Bouchard added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
