PI boys tumble in standings after 0-4 showing
Easton boys, FF girls in first place in respective divisions
It was a busy and rough week for the Presque Isle Wildcat boys’ basketball team.
The team entered the stretch with momentum after having won two in a row before Christmas. However, PI played four games in a six-day stretch and lost all of them. The Wildcats are now 2-6 and fell to 14th place in the Class B North division’s Heal Point standings.
It started with last Wednesday’s 50-37 home loss to Ellsworth. The Wildcats trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and never threatened. Brad Kinney sparked PI by coming off the bench to score a team-high 11 points.
The following afternoon at PIHS, the game was tied at halftime before MDI went on a 35-21 run the rest of the way to prevail, 67-53. Jonah Hudson scored a season-high 14 points, while Kyle Rider and Grant Stewart had 12 and 11, respectively.
On Saturday, also at home, the Central Red Devils broke out to an 18-2 lead and PI never got to within 13 the remainder of the contest in th 63-41 loss. Guerrette had 14 points and Rider 12 as the Wildcats’ leading scorers.
Monday’s game at Fort Kent resulted in a 67-64 loss. PI led at all the quarter breaks, but Ryan Chasse hit nine of his 10 free throw attempts in the fourth period to lead the Warriors to the victory. Connor Murchison tallied a career-high 19 points for the Wildcats, while Rider followed with 15, Kinney 14 and Guerrette 11.
The Wildcats next face No. 1 Orono in a road game Saturday afternoon, with a home game against Caribou looming next Wednesday.
The Easton Bears were a 53-19 victory at home last Wednesday against Madawaska and a 6-2 record has the squad in first place in the Class D North standings. Logan Halvorson had 20 points and Jordan Doody 10 to lead the offense.
The Fort Fairfield boys moved up to third place in Class C North after avenging an early-season loss at Easton on Saturday evening. The Tigers improved their record to 6-3 as Isaac Cyr had 15 points and Chris Giberson 10 in the 48-40 triumph in Easton. Halvorson paced Easton with 17 and Jake Flewelling added 15 in a game that stayed close until the final minutes.
FF also recorded a 57-28 win over Central Aroostook last Wednesday. Giberson and Cyr again led the way with 15 and 12, respectively. The Tigers outscored the Panthers, 33-5, over the second and third quarters. Dustin Pryor scored nine for the Panthers.
The Tiger girls are atop the C division thanks to an easy win over Washburn Monday. Taylor Churchill continued her impressive scoring pace with 26 points,while Teresa Maynard had 13 points and 13 boards and Chelsey Pelkey nine points, 11 assists and 11 steals. The Beavers were led by Emilia Churchill, who had 13 points in the game.
The Washburn girls did beat Central Aroostook last Wednesday, 51-37, and Ashland Friday, 43-30, and are in fourth place in Class D with a 5-3 mark. Churchill had 21 in the win over the Panthers and Grace Braley scored 16 more. Against Ashland, Braley had 12, freshman Kassie Farley 11 and Churchill 10.
Kassie Levesque was CA’s high scorer with 14 points, while Laura Sturgeon and Mackenzie Carter had 12 each for Ashland.
The Washburn boys were idle last week and are currently in third place at 5-1. They have road games tonight at Ashland and tomorrow at Limestone, and then get ready to make the trip to Dyer Brook for a pivotal matchup against Southern Aroostook Saturday. Washburn handed No. 2 SA one of its two losses this season on Dec. 16 on the Beavers’ home floor.
The Limestone-MSSM teams returned from a lengthy layoff Saturday with games in Mars Hill against the Panthers. The Eagles girls fell to 1-6 following a 60-29 loss. Molly Anthony had 12 points, while Karli Levesque and Cailtyn Harris added 10 each for the Panthers, who are 4-2 and in fifth place in Class D. Kassee Albert had 10 to pace Limestone-MSSM.
Alex Sprague tallied 12 points in the Eagle boys’ 57-21 loss to the Panthers, who were 4-2 and in sixth place in Class D entering last night’s home game against Easton. The Eagles were outscored 14-0 in the first quarter and trailed 31-3 at halftime as CA was too much to handle. Zach Crouch and Riley McGrath notched 12 points each for the winners.
The Easton girls were beaten three times and are 3-5, falling to ninth place in the Class D North rankings. The Bears lost to Madawaska last Wednesday, 44-29, with Isabelle Morin and Elise Allen scoring 10 points each for Easton. Allen had 16 and Morin nine in a 41-40 loss at Hodgdon Saturday, while Delaney Leach led the way with nine points and Blake Bradley added eight Monday as Easton were defeated by Central Aroostook, 45-35.
Karli Levesque had 17 points and Kassie Levesque 10 in the Panther victory.
The Ashland girls and boys were both at home by East Grand/GHCA Monday. In the girls’ 45-24 loss, Sturgeon’s 10 points led the way. The boys kept things close, but were unable to win for the first time this season. Kyle Beaulier had 12 points and Steven Bellanceau 11 in the 49-44 loss. The Ashland girls are now 2-7 and in 14th place, while the boys are 0-8.
