It’s a quick turnaround for coach Logan McLaughlin’s Fort Fairfield Tigers. Following a dominating performance last night at home against the Washburn Beavers, Fort Fairfield is back to work tonight in an important contest against Easton, the fourth-place team in Class D North with a 7-5 record.
When the two teams met in Fort Fairfield on Dec. 13, the Tigers snagged a hard-fought 49-45 victory.
“[Easton] has a slight size advantage on us inside so we need to control the boards and push the tempo as much as possible,” said McLaughlin of the matchup.
The Presque Isle teams, both in seventh place in Class B, continue their stretch of lengthy road trips with make-up games (originally scheduled Dec. 30) at Mount Desert Island. The girls’ game is at 5 p.m. and pits the 7-3 Wildcats, winners of three in a row, against a 7-4 MDI team which has dropped its last two contests.
The PI boys, 6-4 after losing both Saturday and Monday, face their biggest challenge of the season in playing the 11-0 and first-place Trojans at 6:30 p.m. The same matchups are scheduled a week from Friday (Jan. 27) in Presque Isle.
LCS/MSSM vs. Ashland and Washburn vs. Wisdom are girls/boys doubleheaders that are part of today’s busy slate of games. Also, the Central Aroostook girls travel to Fort Fairfield in the first of their two meetings this season.
The following are summaries of last night’s varsity basketball games.
Ft. Fairfield boys 66, Washburn 35
Eleven different players scored points as Fort Fairfield ran out to a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter and cruised past visiting Washburn Tuesday.
The Tigers are now 10-1 and winners of seven in a row and remained in second place in the Class C North division behind only undefeated George Stevens Academy. They have outscored opponents by an average of 23 points per game during the current streak.
Chris Giberson led a balanced offense with 14 points, while Landen Kinney was also in double figures with 10. Jared Harvey added nine, Ryan Player seven and Jon Bernard and Liam McNamee six each.
“It was good to see some of our guys off the bench step up and hit some shots as they will play big roles for us late in the season,” McLaughlin said.
Caleb Thompson netted 17 points and McCall Turner 15 for 4-6 Washburn.
CAHS boys 66, Van Buren 30
In another lopsided game which saw the winning team have 10 different players score points, Central Aroostook moved to 7-4 by winning on the Crusaders’ home floor Tuesday.
Caleb Harris scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Panthers. Ben Thomas had 10, Brayden Bradbury nine and Clark Bradbury eight.
Luc Perreault paced Van Buren (now 3-8) with 14 points.
GHCA boys 43, Ashland 35
In a Tuesday night battle between teams fighting for the final playoff slots in Class D North, the Eagles of Greater Houlton Christian Academy were able to hold off the Hornets in Ashland.
GHCA is now 4-5 and in 11th place and Ashland is 4-6 and in 12th. The top 10 teams will advance into the postseason.
Eighth-grader Austin Winslow had 12 points and freshman Will Austin nine, including two 3-pointers, for the winners and Steven Bellanceau 14 for the Hornets, who play another Eagle team, LCS/MSSM, at home tonight.
CAHS girls 40, Van Buren 17
The Panthers have now won eight of their last nine games following the blowout in Van Buren Tuesday.
Central Aroostook is 8-2 and in third place in Class D North. Breanne Bradbury, a freshman forward, posted solid statistics with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers and Ashlee Harris also hit double digits with 11 points.
Tiffany Morrow scored seven points and hauled in nine rebounds for 1-10 Van Buren.
