Beavers are D boys’ No. 1 seed, FF and Easton also near top
A year ago this week, the Washburn Beavers suffered the biggest upset, seedings wise, in Maine basketball playoff history.
As the No. 1 seed, the Beavers were beaten by No. 16 Jonesport-Beals in a preliminary playoff game.
Washburn has recovered nicely. With all but one player returning, the squad went 16-2 and again is ranked at the top of the Eastern Maine Class D standings heading into the playoffs.
“The loss [to Jonesport-Beals] made us reevaluate our team and how we finished,” said coach Randy Norsworthy. “Last year has been spoken about plenty in pre-game talks and at practice and we are using this tough situation as a motivation to finish stronger this season.
“We truly know that the post-season is one game at a time … there are no second chances now,” he added.
Washburn began the season winning its first 11 games before losing an overtime thriller in Fort Fairfield. The team then won its next four before falling at home to Southern Aroostook last Wednesday and rebounding to stop Easton the following evening in its regular season finale.
The Beavers are a deep team, having all five starters back and several other players who have stepped up their games to become key members of the rotation.
Jarrett Olson and Cameron Bragg lead the way, averaging 16.9 and 13.6 points per game, respectively, on a team that averages just shy of 80 ppg and has scored 90 or more on four occasions.
Washburn has good balance after Olson and Bragg, with four others averaging at least seven ppg.
Noah Farley, Noah Caron and Kenny Irving are the other starters, while Alex Pelletier, Cameron Preston and Derek Baker headline the Beaver reserve corps.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers didn’t even have a head coach in place less than a month before the start of the season, but the hiring of Logan McLaughlin turned out to be a good move as he guided the Tigers to a 14-4 record and No. 3 finish in the standings.
The Tigers are loaded with seniors, who make up six of the eight players in the rotation.
Robbie Watson has had a fine season, averaging 15.2 ppg, while Hunter Beaulieu comes in at a 11.5 ppg clip. He was the hero in the team’s overtime victory over Washburn in late-January as he hit a game-tying shot at the buzzer in regulation and the game-winner with time running out in overtime.
Johnny Theriault is a pesky guard, Caleb Daigle a consistent player at both ends of the floor and Vincent Campbell and Brandon York dependable reserves.
Sophomore Chris Giberson and freshman Isaac Cyr are other important players for the Tigers.
“I believe our intense defense and energy allowed us to win or be in most of our games, along with our balanced scoring attack,” McLaughlin said, “and I believe that energy on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor is the quality that can make us a factor in this year’s post-season.”
At No. 4 in EM Class D are the Easton Bears of coach Dillon Kingsbury.
All he has done in his three previous seasons is engineer an upset over No. 1 Jonesport-Beals in the quarterfinals his first year, make it back into the semifinals his second year and coach last year’s team to an undefeated regular season before losing in the quarters to the eventual state champs (Hodgdon).
The Bears had another strong season this year while rebuilding following the loss of all-star center Hunter Turner by going 15-3.
“Most of the games were hard-fought ones, no matter who we were playing,” Kingsbury said. “I hope these tight, intense games will help at this time of the year where you’re going to have to win a close game if you want to advance.”
The Bears have counted heavily on junior shooting ace Logan Halvorson, who averages 14.5 ppg and has had several games with multiple three-pointers.
Sophomore Jake Flewelling scores 14 ppg, while junior Drew Sotomayor (7 ppg) and seniors Cody Halvorson and Nick Clark (6 ppg each) are other keys along with senior Connor Burtt.
The Ashland Hornets were able to shrug off a 2-7 start to finish strong and go 7-11 to secure the No. 10 seed and a prelim game in Eastport against No. 7 Shead today.
“We think we match up well with Shead, but we’re going to have to play our best basketball and limit our mistakes,” said coach Trevor Hews. “If we can do the little things like rebounding and making good passes, then we’ll be in the game with a chance to win.”
Ashland relies on senior guard Cody Blair for a majority of the scoring. Blair averages 19 ppg and became a career 1,000-point scorer last week in a win over LCS/MSSM.
The team also gets consistent scoring contributions from seniors Mark Chasse (10 ppg) and Michael Cook (11 ppg).
The Hornets have four other seniors who are hoping to end their careers by playing on the Cross Insurance Center floor in the tournament.
