PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — More than halfway through the season, the playoff picture is beginning to come into focus for local boys basketball teams.
With two victories this week, Central Aroostook (8-2) continues to lead Class C North as of Sunday night. Though far away from their regional rival, Fort Fairfield was showing some strength of its own, ranking seventh in the 20-strong division.
In Class B North, Presque Isle (4-7) slid down to 13th, in a division that undefeated Caribou continue to dominate.
In Class D North, Easton continues to perform well and is now ranked fourth. Washburn was eighth, and Ashland 11th.
Easton 66, Ashland 36 — At Ashland Jan. 6, Easton trounced its regional opponent. Individual scores were not reported.
Central Aroostook 75, Southern Aroostook 59 — At Dyer Brook Jan. 7, the first-place Panthers took down the Warriors, beating the team resoundly off the strength of Brayden Bradbury’s 25 points. Ethan Pryor and Josh Thomas both had 16 point games, helping lead Central Aroostook to victory.
Xavier Morales led Southern Aroostook with 24 points while Hunter Burpee added 20.
Washburn 55, Van Buren 50 — At Washburn Jan. 7, Van Buren (7-2) edged out Washburn (3-6). A few Crusaders had some big games: Emmanuel Deschain had 14, Isaiah Morales had 11; and Blake Martin and Luc Perreault had 10.
Though on the losing team, Colby Hewitt had an impressive game, leading players on both teams with 23 points. Hewitt did not have a single field goal throughout the night as he had four 3-pointers and landed 11 free throws.
Aidan Churchill and Devin Dionne both had 11 points, with Dionne getting 12 rebounds.
Madawaska 54, Washburn 29 — At Madawaska Jan. 6, Madawaska beat out Washburn. Robbie Lausier led the Owls with 24 points, while Carsen Cyr and Ian Beaulieu each added 11 points of their own to the board.
For the Beavers, Devin Dionne had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Easton 76, Wisdom 31 — At Easton Jan. 9, the Bears trounced Wisdom in another home win. The Bears could not have done it without some powerful performances from Matthew Pangburn, who had 17 points, Camden Michaud, who had 12, and Madison Bubar, who had nine.
The leading players for the Pioneers were Jonah Babin, seven points, Carter Pelletier, six, and Kaden Daigle, five.
Fort Kent 67, Fort Fairfield 54 — At Fort Kent Jan. 9, the Warriors took down Fort Fairfield (5-4). Individual results were not available.
Madawaska 76, Washburn 45 — At Washburn Jan. 9, Madawaska (5-5) had a resounding victory over Washburn. That victory would not have been possible without a stellar performance by Robert Lausier, who had 39 points off of 15 field goals and three 3-pointers. Riley Morneault had 14 and Carson Cyr seven.
Churchill led his team with 11, while Hewitt had nine, and Benjamin Turner had eight.
Van Buren 72, Ashland 33 — At Van Buren Jan. 10, Van Buren put on a big offensive performance that helped put it past Ashland. Morales led that Crusaders offense, with 17 points including six successful free throws. Henry Hebert had 16, Perreault had 14, and Martin scored 12.
Though the offensive fireworks were not as strong with the Hornets, two players scored 10: Blayne Boutot and Josh Celestre.
Hermon 57, Presque Isle 41 — At Presque Isle Jan. 11, Hermon (10-1) received strong outings from Isaac Varney with 27 points and Eli Reed with 12 points in the Hawks win over Presque Isle. Caleb Wheaton led Presque Isle with 12 points, while Xavier McAtee had 11. Malachi Cummings had eight.
Central Aroostook 64, Madawaska 43 — At Madawaska Jan. 11, Central Aroostook continued its success with a big performance against Madawaska (5-6). Bradbury led the way with 18 points, while Jacob Carvell had 10, and Pryor had six for the Panthers.
For the Owls, Lausier led the way with 22 points, while Ian Beaulieu had nine and Michael Hebert six.
Easton 59, Southern Aroostook 52 — At Dyer Brook Jan. 11, Easton outlasted the host-Warriors. Four Easton players had over ten points: Austin Carver led the way with 18, including three 3-pointers, Matt Pangburn had 13, Camden Michaud had 11 and Troy Chasse had 10.
Graham Siltz had 16 points for Southern Aroostook, while Burpee had 15, and Jacob Brooks had 14.
