By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
It took less than two weeks for the Presque Isle boys basketball team to match its win total from all of last season.
The Wildcats have won three in a row and now own a 3-1 record following Friday’s 64-45 victory over John Bapst at the Cross Insurance Center. Presque Isle went 3-15 during the 2015-16 season.
Griffin Guerrette and Bradley Kinney were the offensive leaders for the ’Cats against the Crusaders. Guerrette pumped in 20 points and Kinney had 18. PI trailed by three points after a quarter but a 26-12 run in the second period put the Wildcats in control.
The PI girls are now 3-2 following their 60-51 loss to Bapst that same evening. Emily Wheaton had 21 points in the loss. The Crusaders are undefeated at 5-0 and are currently atop the Class B North rankings.
Last Wednesday, the Wildcats eased past Fort Kent in another road contest, 73-26. Wheaton scored 20, Emily Lagerstrom had 17 and Molly Kingsbury and Skylar Vogel netted 10 each in the lopsided win. PI hit on 11 3-point field goals in the contest, with Lagerstrom collecting five of them.
In other action during an abbreviated week, Central Aroostook’s squads earned a pair of wins each. The boys are now 4-1 and the girls stand at 3-1 heading into this week’s play.
The boys beat LCS/MSSM last Wednesday, 54-28, and defeated Wisdom Friday, 65-33, both in away games. Ben Thomas scored 22 points and Zach Crouch had 14 against the Eagles, while Crouch had 13, Thomas 12 and Brayden Bradbury 10 against the Pioneers.
The CA girls also won their two easily, 65-26 over LCS/MSSM and 64-23 over Wisdom. Kayla Martin and Katie Levesque had 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the win over the Eagles. Kassie Levesque tallied 20 points and Breanne Bradbury 14 at St. Agatha two nights later.
The Easton girls downed Van Buren last Wednesday, 32-20, and hold a 4-0 record heading into tonight’s showdown at 5-0 Madawaska. Isabelle Morin totaled nine points to lead the Bears.
The boys from Easton (5-2) split their two contests, beating Van Buren last Wednesday, 66-25, before falling at home to Southern Aroostook Friday, 89-60.
Noah Hanscomb fired in six 3-pointers for the second consecutive game to pace the Bears past the Crusaders. Jake Flewelling added 15 points.
Flewelling posted 32 points in the lopsided loss to the Warriors. Nolan Altvater and Jackson Mathers combined for 43 points for undefeated Southern Aroostook.
The Fort Fairfield girls lost twice and fell to 1-4 on the season entering their scheduled home game against Shead of Eastport Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers lost to Madawaska last Wednesday, 35-27. FF kept the game close for over three quarters but fell short against the undefeated Owls. Emma Campbell scored 10 points to lead the Tigers.
On Friday, Cammi King-DeMerchant netted 10 points in the 39-25 loss at Hodgdon. The game was tied at halftime but Hodgdon went on a 26-12 scoring run in the second half.
The Fort Fairfield boys won their only game and are now 3-1. The Tigers bested Madawaska, 72-36, last Wednesday. Four players reached double figures for the winners, led by Isaac Cyr’s 16 points. Chris Giberson had 13, Carter Bruce 11 and Landen Kinney 10.
The Ashland boys are at 0-4 and have not played since losing to Wisdom Dec. 19. The Hornet girls have a 1-4 record following last Wednesday’s 60-16 loss to Southern Aroostook in Dyer Brook. Morgan Doughty scored half of Ashland’s points, notching eight on the night. The Hornet squads host LCS/MSSM on Thursday.
The Washburn teams have been idle since Dec. 19, but the girls play at Central Aroostook tonight and both the boys and girls are at Wisdom Friday. The girls are currently 3-1 and the boys are 2-2.
