Wildcat boys gain pair of hoop wins
Easton squads off to strong starts
The Presque Isle boys had a strong preseason and have carried that success over into the regular season. The team is now just one win away from matching their win total from all of last year after defeating Houlton and Old Town in recent home games.
The Wildcats, who went 3-15 during the 2015-16 campaign, are now 2-1 after the successful week. PI defeated Houlton last Wednesday, 67-62, before notching an easy 85-45 win over Old Town Saturday.
Senior forward Bradley Kinney and junior guard Griffin Guerrette led the way for the ’Cats. Kinney had 20 points and 13 rebounds against the Shires and totaled 18 points against the Coyotes. Guerrette poured in 24 points in the win over Old Town after notching 13 against Houlton.
Other top individual performances in the two games were Erick Tompkins’ five three-pointers against OT and Jacob Kinney’s 10-point effort in the Houlton game.
The PI girls bounced back from their loss to Houlton (see story) to down Old Town Saturday, 61-35. Skylar Vogel fought off early-game foul trouble to finish with a game-high 20 points and PI outscored the Coyotes 17-0 in the third period to key the win.
The Easton teams are off to strong starts. The Bear girls were 3-0 entering today’s game at Van Buren. Easton tripped up Fort Fairfield (41-29) and Ashland (43-22) last week. Isabelle Morin led a balanced attack in the home game against Ashland Friday with 12 points. Casey Lovely and Sara Gilman posted eight points each. Last Tuesday, Gilman hit all 12 of her free throw attempts and had a total of 18 points as the Bears won in Fort Fairfield.
The Bear boys are 4-1 heading into tonight’s matchup at Van Buren. The squad lost at Fort Fairfield last Tuesday (49-45) but then topped Hodgdon (48-44), Ashland (53-27) and Washburn (74-45).
Noah Hanscomb buried six three-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points in Monday’s win at Washburn. Jacob Flewelling contributed 25 points for Easton, while McCall Turner’s 16 points led the 2-2 Beavers.
Jordan Doody’s 13 points led Easton against Ashland, with Dylan Haley scoring nine for the Hornets in the loss. Flewelling notched 29 in the home win over Class C Hodgdon.
The Fort Fairfield girls won for the first time Thursday, beating Fort Kent 28-26 thanks to a game-winning layup by Hunter St. Pierre with time running out.
The Tiger boys had a 2-1 week. Isaac Cyr’s 17 points led FF in the win over Easton, while the Tigers also managed a 56-42 victory over Fort Kent Thursday before they were beaten at Southern Aroostook Monday, 67-52. Carter Bruce hit six three-pointers to finish with 22 points in the loss.
The Central Aroostook boys are now 2-1 and the girls are 1-1 after they swept Van Buren at home Monday. The boys won 56-22 and the girls prevailed, 55-7. The girls dropped their season opener Saturday to Madawaska, 40-37, while the boys came away with a 65-49 win over the Owls.
The Washburn girls, under first-year coach Tyler Putnam, stand at 3-1 after beating Hodgdon last Tuesday, 49-46, and Wisdom Friday, 53-23. The Ashland girls picked up their first win Monday, dominating Wisdom at home, 43-14.
The top individual performance of the week came Monday in the Ashland boys’ 58-54 home loss to Wisdom. Junior Steven Bellanceau totaled 30 points and 20 rebounds for the Hornets, who still fell to 0-4.
