The Ashland girls made it all the way up to sixth place in the Class D North standings, thanks to their upset win over Central Aroostook Saturday evening in Mars Hill.
The team is now 4-5 but hopes to be above .500 following this week’s games. The Hornets played at East Grand Tuesday and at Van Buren Thursday.
Central Aroostook is third, Easton fourth and Washburn seventh as the regular season is at or near the midway point for many squads.
In Class B, Presque Isle is currently in seventh place and Fort Fairfield is ninth in the ‘C’ ranks.
For boys, Central Aroostook stands in third and stays ahead of fourth-place Easton after winning the head-to-head matchup last Tuesday on the Bears’ home floor. In the loss, Bear senior Jake Flewelling surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Washburn is in 10th place place and Ashland in 13th. The Hornets are currently out of the playoff picture, but kept their post-season hopes intact after a victory over the Beavers.
With a 6-1 mark, Fort Fairfield is second in Class C and Presque Isle, despite Saturday’s loss to Central, is in fourth place in Class B.
Summaries of games played last week are as follows:
Girls
Madawaska 50, Easton 36
The Owls remained unbeaten after prevailed at Easton Monday behind 18 points each from Desiree Belanger and Jenna Dugal.
Madawaska led by just two points at halftime, but outscored the Bears 27-15 after intermission. Isabelle Morin scored 14 points and Delia Bonner added seven for Easton, which fell to 5-4.
Central 47, Presque Isle 42 (OT)
Emily Wheaton forced overtime by hitting a 3-pointer with one second to play, but the Wildcat were beaten in overtime by the Red Devils in East Corinth Saturday afternoon.
Sydney Allen led the Red Devils with 27 points, four assists and three steals. She connected on all six of her free throw attempts in the extra session. Libby Cook and Emily Smith each scored nine points and combined for 20 rebounds.
Wheaton had 26 points to lead PI, which took a 4-3 record into Tuesday’s home game against Caribou.
Ashland 36, Central Aroostook 29
The Hornets picked up a huge victory Saturday, knocking off No. 3 Central Aroostook on the road.
Ashland led at all the quarter breaks and limited CA to just nine first-half points. They moved all the way up to sixth in the Heal Point standings for Class D North and improved to 4-5 overall.
“We really stepped our defense and rebounding and were making offensive runs out of our defense,” said Hornet coach Whitney Flint, who noted her team had just seven players suited up and they were exhausted at the end. “Central Aroostook had some good fullcourt pressure on us that was challenging for a bit until we figured out a press breaker.”
Olivia Tardie scored 15 points, including five free throws, while Morgan Doughty was also in double figures for the winners.
Ashlee Harris paced CA, now 6-2, with seven points.
Southern Aroostook 66, Washburn 30
Sydney Brewer scored 25 points and three other Warriors reached double figures as the Warriors improved to 6-0 Saturday with the easy win.
Maggie Castonguay and Alexis Carney led the host Beavers (4-4) with eight points each.
Central Aroostook 44, Hodgdon 34
Central Aroostook picked up the win at home Friday as freshmen Breanne Bradbury and Katie Levesque led the scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sydney Howell had 12 to lead the Hawks.
Fort Fairfield 59, LCS/MSSM 26
Freshman Riley Clough led a balanced attack with 12 points as the Tigers topped the Eagles in Fort Fairfield Thursday. Cammi King-DeMerchant and Sadie Edgecomb (three 3-pointers) netted 10 points each and Emma Campbell and Amber Sherwood had eight each for the Tigers, who improved to 3-5. Taylor LaBreck, also a freshman, led LCS/MSSM (1-4) with 12 points.
Washburn 40, Ashland 32
The Beavers’ fullcourt defense paid dividends as they held off the Hornets in a competitive contest Thursday in Ashland. “We were able to put on pressure and get some transition points, which is always key for us,” said Washburn coach Tyler Putnam. “Ashland played hard for four quarters and never gave up.”
Castonguay, a freshman, was the only player for Washburn to reach double figures with 14 points. Skylar Mette had nine and Kassandra Farley eight. Tardie led the Hornets with 11 points, while Doughty and Micayla Driscoll added six each.
“It was a good game that went back and forth, but the difference was amount of fouls as Washburn took 16 foul shots and we had six,” Flint said, who again had just seven players available. “They put on a good press towards the end and we had a hard time with that.”
Boys
Easton 52, Madawaska 37
On Monday, the Bears gained their seventh victory of the season against four losses as Hunter Brown’s 14 points led the winning offense.
Ben Hebert scored 14 for the Owls, which stand at 1-7.
Hodgdon 51, Central Aroostook 46
Matt Tuttle forced overtime with a basket late in the fourth quarter and the host Hawks outscored the Panthers 14-9 in the extra period Monday.
Daden Palmer had 15 points and Kevin McAfee 14 for the Hawks, who improved to 7-3.
Ben Thomas hit three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 19 points and Zach Crouch added 15 for the CA squad, now 6-3.
Central Aroostook 51, Ashland 31
The Panthers (6-2) bolted to a 13-point halftime lead to gain the easy home win Saturday.
Crouch scored 16 points and Thomas had 14 for CA and led all scorers. Kyle Beaulier had nine for 2-6 Ashland.
Central 59, Presque Isle 44
Andrew Speed had 14 points Saturday as the Red Devils prevailed in the matchup between two of the top teams in Class B North.
The game was close after the first quarter before the hosts built a 10-point halftime lead and added to it in the second half. Bradley Kinney was the high scorer for the 5-2 Wildcats with 21 points and Erick Tompkins canned three 3-pointers for his nine-point total.
Southern Aroostook 85, Washburn 45
Jackson Mathers scored 15 third-quarter points and had 23 in the game as the Warriors rolled at Washburn Saturday to sweep the season series between the two teams.
Nolan Atvater had 13 points despite battling foul trouble throughout and Jayden Burpee netted 11 for the Warriors, who upped their mark to 7-0 and lead the way in the Class D North division.
Caleb Thompson scored 22 points and Quintin Thompson had 17 for the Beavers.
Fort Fairfield 65, LCS/MSSM 33
The Tigers took the lead early and were never threatened in the home triumph Saturday over LCS/MSSM. Chris Giberson’s 22 points led Fort Fairfield (6-1 and winners of four straight), while Jared Harvey posted 13 more.
Mason Patten tallied 13 for the 2-5 Eagles.
Ashland 59, Washburn 47
On Thursday, Steven Bellanceau poured in 20 points and Beaulier had 17 as Ashland (2-5) picked up the victory over the Beavers in Ashland. McCall Turner led Washburn (2-4) with 20 points and Caleb Thompson contributed 14 more.
“This was big for the kids,” said Hornet coach Lucas Belanger. “It showed that we are ready to beat upper-level programs when we play to our full potential and it puts us in the playoff hunt, which the program hasn’t seen in a few years.”
Southern Aroostook 74, Easton 65
In a rematch of last year’s Class D North regional final, the Warriors got revenge with the win in Dyer Brook Thursday night. Altvater had 33 points and Mathers 21 to lead the offense for SA, now 6-0 and atop the standings.
Jordan Doody and Jake Flewelling totaled 24 and 16, respectively, for the Bears (6-3), who trailed by just one point at halftime.
Central Aroostook 57, Easton 48 (OT)
The visiting Panthers picked up their biggest win of the season Tuesday, outscoring the Bears 13-5 in overtime.
CA’s Thomas hit the game-tying shot in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. The Panthers (5-2) led throughout the first three quarters and were up by as many as 14 points, but Easton rallied in the second half to take the lead. Freshman Brayden Bradbury had 20 points to lead the winning offense, while Crouch was strong inside throughout and had 17.
Brown scored 14 points and Noah Hanscomb 13 for Easton. Flewelling scored nine, including the 1,000th of his career.
