Local basketball teams played up to eight games in December, so they are approaching the midway point of their regular season schedules. That means the Heal Point standings are beginning to take shape and teams are making a push for the post-season, which is now just six weeks away.
In Class B girls, Presque Isle is currently seventh at 3-2. The top 11 qualify for the playoffs. Central Aroostook is in fifth place in Class C at 4-2 and Fort Fairfield is right behind in sixth with its 5-3 mark. The top 14 in this division move on to the post-season.
In Class D, Ashland has the highest standing among local teams, in fifth place with a 4-3 record. Washburn is eighth at 2-4 and Easton ninth at 1-4. Only the top 10 will advance.
For the boys, Presque Isle is the frontrunner in Class B at 4-2. Fort Fairfield is No. 1 in Class C, boasting a 5-1 record. Central Aroostook is in fifth at 5-1. Easton is in seventh in Class D at 5-3. Ashland (0-7) and Washburn (0-6) are both seeking their first victories and share last place.
Summaries of games played Dec. 27-30 are as follows:
Maddy Candage of the MDI Trojans, left, and Sydney Thompson of the Presque Isle Wildcats battle for a rebound during Thursday’s game at PIHS. (Contributed photo/Debbie Ackerson-PIHS Athletics)
Girls basketball
Central Aroostook 52, Ashland 25 — At Mars Hill Saturday, the Panthers placed three players in double figures and won their fourth straight game. A 19-4 second-quarter scoring run put the game away.
Breanna Bradbury led Central Aroostook with a game-high 15 points, while Katie Levesque and Ashlee Harris chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Ashland was paced by Megan Cote with six points.
Hermon 54, Presque Isle 47 — At Hermon, Cait Tracy connected for 18 points and Lauren Plissey posted 17 as the Hawks beat the Wildcats Saturday. Maddie Pullen chipped in with 10 points for the Hawks.
Emily Wheaton connected for a game-best 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers, for Presque Isle. Madison Jandreau added 12 points.
Fort Fairfield 49, Washburn 36 — The host Tigers went on a 28-10 run spanning parts of the second and third periods to secure Saturday’s victory.
Fort Fairfield placed eight players in the scoring column, led by Cammi King-Demerchant with 15 points and Kourtney West with 11.
Kassie Farley paced Washburn with a game-high 17 points. Alexis Carney added nine.
Hodgdon 46, Easton 20 — At Hodgdon Friday, Janelle Goff poured in a game-high 22 points to lead Hodgdon to its fourth win in six games. Kathryn Rediker scored nine points for the winners, Sydney Howell had seven to go with nine assists and six rebounds and Kora Lambert chipped in with six points and 15 rebounds.
Delaney Leach and Lydia Ferris netted seven points each for Easton (1-4).
Central Aroostook 58, Washburn 20 — At Mars Hill Thursday, the Panthers led 20-4 after the first quarter behind Ashlee Harris’ three 3-pointers and they cruised to victory.
Harris finished with 11 points, while Central Aroostook’s balanced scoring included Kassie Levesque (eight points), Isabelle Wright (eight), Katie Levesque (seven) and Caitlyn Harris (seven).
Washburn was led by Kassie Farley with 11 points.
Wildcat senior Chrissy Skidgel drives in for a layup against the Ellsworth defense during last Wednesday’s game at Presque Isle High School. (Contributed photo/Walter Churchill)
Presque Isle 72, Ellsworth 50 — Six different Wildcat players combined for 14 3-point field goals, led senior point guard Emily Wheaton’s five, as PI surged past the Eagles last Wednesday.
Wheaton finished with 11 points, while Maggie Castonguay added 11 and Chrissy Skidgel 10, with Castonguay drilling three 3-pointers and Skidgel two. Madison Jandreau (two), Madison Michaud and Sydney Thompson were the others hitting the long-range shots for the Wildcats.
Katelyn Bagley scored 20 points for Ellsworth, which suffered its first loss after opening with three victories.
Central Aroostook 41, Madawaska 39 — The Panthers picked up a big win last Wednesday as Kassie Levesque sunk a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to snap a tie in the game played in Mars Hill.
Levesque finished with 12 points, while younger sister Kate added nine and Macie Beals and Breanna Bradbury tossed in seven each.
Jenna Dugal’s 20 points paced the Owls.
Shead 55, Fort Fairfield 46 — In a battle of the Tigers played in Eastport last Wednesday, the home team won out behind Cassidy Wilder’s 14 points and 13 more from Justine Cheney. Shead led by four points at half but stretched it out to eight at the end of three quarters and held on.
Cammi King-Demerchant paced Fort Fairfield with 21 points, while Brenna Levasseur added 10.
Boys basketball
Hermon 60, Presque Isle 56 (OT) — In a game that PI coach Terry Cummings said took on a “tournament-like atmosphere” at Hermon High School Saturday, the Wildcats trailed by seven points in the first quarter and came back to go in front, and then fell behind by eight late in the third quarter but forced overtime, only to fall to the still-undefeated Hawks.
Presque Isle owned the only field goal in the extra session, but Hermon hit six of its eight free throw attempts to pull out the win.
Griffin Guerrette tallied 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats. Jonah Hudson had 16 points and six rebounds, Jason Dumais eight points, five rebounds and three steals and Trace Cyr six rebounds for PI, now 4-2 and still atop the Class B North standings.
Isaac Varney scored 22 points, Jordan Bishop 14 and Keenan Marseille 13 for the Hawks.
“Even though we lost, it was another tremendous confidence booster for us as we were coming off the big comeback win against MDI only two days earlier and were playing our third game in four days,” Cummings said.
Central Aroostook 90, Ashland 29 — At Mars Hill, Caleb Harris tossed in 26 points to power Central Aroostook to victory Saturday. The Panthers netted 16 3-point field goals in the game as they won their fifth straight game.
Dylan Haley had seven points to lead the winless Hornets.
Central Aroostook 78, Washburn 23 — Hayden Kingsbury and Caleb Harris scored 13 points each as the Panthers broke out to a 50-7 halftime lead in the rout of the Beavers in Mars Hill Thursday.
Aidan Churchill’s seven points were tops for the Beavers.
Katahdin 63, Easton 57 — The Cougars bested the Bears Thursday and are now 5-2 and in second place in Class D. Game details were not reported.
Presque Isle 65, Ellsworth 42 — Senior point guard Griffin Guerrette led the charge with 25 points, while Jonah Hudson and Caleb Wheaton each connected on three 3-pointers and added 15 and 12, respectively, in the Wildcats’ home victory last Wednesday.
Presque Isle used a 21-8 scoring run in the second quarter to bounce back after trailing by five at the end of one. The victory was the third in a row for PI following its opening-game loss at Washington Academy.
Jackson Curtis paced Ellsworth with 16 points, while Jared Hamilton added nine.
Central Aroostook 74, Madawaska 44 — The Panthers nabbed a convincing victory at home over the Owls last Wednesday. Central Aroostook has now won three in a row after losing its opener, while Madawaska’s record leveled at 2-2. Game details were not reported.
