Wildcats keep winning to stay near top
in Class B North
FF girls and Easton boys still No. 1 in divisions
Just over two weeks are left in the regular season for high school basketball and while the Presque Isle girls are in outstanding position to finish near the top in the Class B Northern division, the Wildcat boys’ team will need to pick up a couple upsets in its final seven games to make the post-season.
The Fort Fairfield girls and boys in Class C and both the Washburn and Central Aroostook girls and boys in Class D are all solid contenders to place among the top six in their respective divisions with several key games still remaining.
The Easton boys remain No. 1 in Class D, while the girls have slumped as of late but still are in the top 10. The Ashland girls are just percentage points behind Easton and in contention for a prelim berth, while the Hornet boys are still hoping to enter the win column with seven games still to play.
Summaries of games played through Monday are as follows:
Presque Isle girls 55, Foxcroft Academy 52 — The Wildcats rarely lose at home, but the visiting Ponies gave them all they wanted Monday afternoon.
Foxcroft led by nine points at intermission before PI rallied in the second half for the win. Emily Wheaton buried three free throws in the final minute and finished with 18 points to lead the Wildcats, who are now 10-1 and in third place in the division.
Taylor Williams hit three three-pointers and finished with 12 points, while Emily Lagerstrom had 11 and Regan Nelson 10.
Grace Bickford’s 18 points were tops for the Ponies, now 7-6 overall and in sixth place.
Foxcroft Academy 75, Presque Isle boys 61 — The Ponies proved too much for the Wildcats as they were up nine after the first quarter and increased it to 19 after three before hanging on.
Jonah Hudson had a career-best 17 points and teammate Kyle Rider also netted 17 for the Wildcats, who have now lost seven straight and are 2-9 overall entering today’s make-up game against Washington Academy. PI is currently in 15th place out of 17 teams in Class B North.
Drew Dankert had 19 points and Hunter Smith 17 for Foxcroft, now 3-10.
Fort Fairfield boys 63, Central Aroostook 41 — The Tigers prevailed at home Thursday behind a strong defense and a statistical double-double by reserve forward Landen Kinney, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Chris Giberson tallied 19 points and Isaac Cyr had 10 for the 8-3 Tigers, who are in third place in Class C.
Dustin Pryor scored 11 points and Zach Crouch netted 10 for the Panthers.
Fort Fairfield girls 60, Southern Aroostook 34 — The 13-1 Fort Fairfield girls are the No. 1 team in Class C North and strengthened that hold with Saturday’s comfortable victory over Southern Aroostook, the top team in Class D.
The Tigers had good scoring balance from their starters. Taylor Churchill had 15 points, Chelsey Pelkey 14, Kayla Giberson eight and Teresa Maynard and Marissa Brouette seven each.
Kassidy Mathers scored 12 points for the Warriors.
Washburn boys 75, Van Buren 44 — Jarrett Olson fired in 21 points as the No. 3 Beavers improved to 8-2 by winning the road game last Tuesday. Mccall Turner had 15 points and Brandon Cropley 11 to contribute to the victory.
Van Buren’s Joseph Canwell scored 18 points to lead his team.
Washburn girls 55, Southern Aroostook 48 — The Beavers earned a huge victory by knocking off No. 1 Southern Aroostook in Dyer Brook Friday.
Emmy Churchill tallied 15 points, Grace Braley and Laina Mette contributed 13 each and Taylor Howe had 10 for 9-3 Washburn, now in third place in the ‘D’ North rankings.
Mathers posted 19 points to lead SA.
Central Aroostook boys 44, LCS/MSSM 31 — Dustin Pryor poured in 20 points to lead Central Aroostook to the win over LCS/MSSM.
The Panthers are currently in sixth place with their 7-4 record.
The Eagles had a huge third-quarter spurt to get close, but didn’t have enough to get past the visiting Panthers.
Alex Sprague netted 10 points for the Eagles, now 4-7.
Central Aroostook girls 43, LCS/MSSM 31 — Kassie Levesque scored 10 for the Panthers as part of a balanced attack in Saturday’s win at Limestone.
The Panthers are 8-2 and have a big week with games against Ashland (last night), Fort Fairfield (tonight) and Southern Aroostook (Friday). They are in fifth place in the Class D North division.
Jackie Peers scored a game-high 12 points for the Eagles.
Easton boys 71, Hodgdon 38 — Four players reached double figures for the Bears, who improved to 10-2 and stayed in first place in Class D with the easy win over Class C Hodgdon.
Logan Halvorson led the way with 20 points, while Drew Sotomayor had 11 and Hunter Brown and Jake Flewelling 10 each.
The Bears held high-scoring Jimmy Buzzell to nine points, while Daden Palmer led the Hawks with 10.
Easton girls 52, Hodgdon 38 — The Bears had a seven-game losing streak come to a halt Monday after they stopped the Hawks in a home game.
The ninth-place Bears, now 4-9, were led by Blake Bradley’s 13 points, with Sara Gilman tossing in 12 and Elise Allen 11.
Lexi McGuire scored 14 for the Hawks, whose only win this season came at Easton’s expense.
Ashland girls 51, Van Buren 21 — The Hornets are now 4-8 as Morgan Doughty’s 15 points contributed to the win over the Crusaders Saturday.
Mackenzie Carter added 13 points and Hannah Stratton 10 for 10th-place Ashland.
Van Buren 41, Ashland boys 30 — After being tied at halftime, the Crusaders took control with a 12-2 run in the third quarter and left the Hornets still searching for their first win of the season.
Kyle Beaulier had 10 points in the loss for 0-11 Ashland.
Washburn girls 60, Easton 17 — The Beaver defense put the clamps on the Bears Thursday, giving up just two points in the first quarter and just two in the third to win big.
Mette had 15 points, Braley 12 and Churchill 11 to key Washburn on offense.
Central Aroostook girls 51, Van Buren 28 — The Panthers took it to the Crusaders at home Thursday behind the Levesque sisters, with Karli scoring 13 and Kassie 12 to lead the attack.
Alexis Ouellette had 20, including four three-pointers, for Van Buren.
Caribou boys 53, Presque Isle 40 — The Vikings couldn’t shake off the Wildcats until early in the fourth quarter, but picked up the road win Thursday.
Bradley Kinney scored 21 for the Wildcats, who made a good comeback attempt over the second and third quarters but failed to break their losing streak.
Presque Isle 60, Caribou girls 48 — Despite trailing by 13 at halftime last Tuesday, the visiting Vikings took a four-point lead midway through the third quarter thanks to a 17-0 run, but the Wildcats came back to gain the triumph.
Emily Wheaton scored 17 for PI and Herbert had 24 to lead Caribou.
Central Aroostook boys 60, Hodgdon 41 — The Panthers captured their most point-worthy win of the season last Tuesday by turning away the Class C Hawks in Mars Hill.
Pryor scored 15 points, Ben Thomas notched a career-high 14 and Crouch added 13 in the win. Palmer scored 17 for Hodgdon.
Fort Fairfield girls 57, Hodgdon 19 — Last Tuesday in Hodgdon, the Tigers got off to a 21-2 lead in routing the Hawks. Churchill’s 17 points were tops for FF.
Washburn girls 57, Van Buren 17 — Braley, Churchill and Mette were all in double figures in points with 16, 12 and 11, respectively, leading the Beavers to the win at Van Buren last Tuesday.
