CARIBOU, Maine — The Northern Maine Community Recreation Association’s boys’ basketball tournament was played March 4, with eight local squads taking part. In the end, Presque Isle proved too strong in pulling out the championship.
PI defeated Mars Hill in the title game, 61-22. It was all Presque Isle from the opening tap thanks to a dominating rebounding effort and a smothering defense. Everybody on the PI roster scored, with Dawson Beaulieu putting in 16 to lead the way. Sidney Smith added 10. Mars Hill’s Lucas Haines was his team’s high scorer with 10.
The first game of the day matched Fort Fairfield against Easton. The two teams had split their regular season matchups, but Easton came out flat in the early-morning contest and Fort Fairfield pulled ahead in the second quarter for a halftime lead of 26-6. The Tigers ended up with a 35-11 victory behind 14 points from Chase Coiley and eight more from Alex Oakes. Evan Carter led Easton with five points.
In game two, Caribou drew Presque Isle. It was a tough matchup for the Vikings as Presque Isle featured height and quickness. The hosts kept it close for the first half and were down, 18-15. Caribou grabbed a three-point lead early in the third quarter before running out of gas and PI took over, winning 43-21. Xavier McAtee had 16 points and Malachi Cummings 13 for the winners, while Braden Willette led the Vikings in the scoring column with seven. Alex Levesque added six.
Mars Hill advanced with a quarterfinal victory over Madawaska, 28-24. Haines led the charge for Mars Hill with 15 points, while Chantel Ackley had eight for Madawaska.
In the final first-round contest, Washburn defeated Ashland, 43-5. Out of the gates, the Beavers were hard to defend as their quickness allowed Beckham Vaughn and Brady Castonguay to put up a combined 25 points.
The first semifinal was a great game throughout, with PI prevailing in the end, 33-23. Presque Isle’s McAtee and Cummings again both put in double digits to lead them into the championship game, while Alex Oakes ended with 11 for the Tigers.
During the other semifinal, Mars Hill’s Lucas Haines took control in this close contest by scoring 22 points in his team’s win over Washburn. The Beavers fought hard as they had Parker Corey, Mitchell Turner and Ben Turner all draining six points apiece and Vaughn and Castonguay both dropping in five, but they came up short, 30-28.
Making the all-tournament team were Haines of Mars Hill, Castonguay of Washburn, Coiley of Fort Fairfield and McAtee and Cummings, both of Presque Isle.
