DYER BROOK, Maine — Opening night proved to be advantageous for the Southern Aroostook boys basketball team as the Warriors rolled to an impressive 82-43 victory over visiting Washburn.
The Warriors used a well-balanced scoring attack to pace them to victory. Hunter Burpee poured in 21 points, while Jacob Brooks added 16, Camden Porter had 13, Brett Williams chipped in 10 and Xavier Morales added nine.
Other SA players getting into the scoring action were Graham Siltz with six points and Chris Caswell with four. Gunner Siltz, Robert Chambers and Parker Skinner each had two.
For Washburn, Aidan Churchill tossed in 15 points, while Colby Hewitt and Devin Dionne both had eight points, Beckham Vaughn added six, Ben Turner had five and Mitchell Turner had one.
Caleb Solomon, right, of Houlton plays tight defense on MDI’s Nate Philbrook during Saturday afternoon’s home opener for the Shires. Houlton won 48-43. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
Southern Aroostook led 25-19, 52-29 and 70-32 at the quarter breaks.
“We shared the ball very well and have been doing a good job getting out (quickly) offensively,” SA boys coach Brett Russell said. “Offensively, we are hitting our shots. We need to work on our defensive intensity, but that will come.”
Results for other games over opening weekend were as follows:
Fort Fairfield 67, Katahdin 43 — At Ashland Friday, Wyatt Keegan led the Tigers with 15 points as Fort Fairfield bested the host Cougars. Wesley Richardson paced Katahdin with 10 points.
GHCA 55, Ashland 35 — At Ashland Friday, the Eagles soared to victory over host-Hornets. Individual results were not reported.
Houlton 61, MDI 54 — At Houlton Saturday, the Shires rallied by from a 35-28 halftime deficit to outscore visiting Mount Desert Island 33-19 in the second half to come away with a season-opening victory.
The Shires struggled from the free throw line early in the contest, but made their foul shots when it mattered most down the stretch to preserve the win. For the game, Houlton made 24 of 41 free throws compared to 13 of 19 for MDI.
Keagan Gentle led all players with 31 points, 12 of which came from the free throw line. Caleb Solomon chipped in with 12 points, while Isaiah Gentle added six, Cameron Callnan chipped in five, Jaron Gentle had four, Collin Moody two and Drew Foley one.
Brady Renault netted 12 points to lead the Trojans, while Jack DaCorte chipped in 11.
