The Presque Isle Wildcats and Washburn Beavers have virtually secured No. 1 seeds for the upcoming basketball tournament.
Presque Isle beat Mattanawcook and Old Town last week to improve to 16-1 on the season. The Wildcats, who finish the regular season with a Thursday matchup at Caribou, lead second-place John Bapst by an insurmountable 30 points in the Heal Point standings for Eastern Maine Class B.
The Vikings (9-8) are closing out the season strong and thanks to Saturday’s upset victory over Bapst and Monday’s win over Houlton, Class C’s top team, have all but secured at least the sixth seed in the division.
Washburn downed Fort Fairfield last Wednesday to improve to 15-2. The Beavers, scheduled to play Hodgdon at home last night, lead by 12 tournament index points over second-place Central Aroostook (14-3), which hosts Fort Fairfield in both teams’ finale Thursday.
The defending state champion Tigers (13-3) were fifth in the rankings posted Tuesday morning. Easton, which finished with a 9-9 record, is 11th, while Limestone-MSSM, 2-15 heading into tonight’s home finale against Southern Aroostook, is 12th and Ashland, which ended up at 6-12, is 14th. All will finish out of the playoffs this season.
The preliminary round of the playoffs is scheduled to take place next Tuesday, Feb. 15. The Eastern Maine Tournament, held at the Bangor Auditorium, gets under way Friday, Feb. 18.
Summaries of games played through Monday, Feb. 7 are as follows:
Caribou 49, Houlton 34 – The Caribou girls defeated the No. 1 team in EM Class C for the second time this season, jumping out on top early and holding on for the win at Houlton Monday.
Selander had 20 points, Alexa Massey nine and Dayna Michaud eight for Caribou, now winners of four games in a row.
Samantha Keegan scored 10 points for the Shires.
Easton 41, Limestone-MSSM 34 – The Bears avenged an early-season loss to the Eagles behind 15 points from Carla Halvorson and 12 from Mindy Desmond.
Stephanie Leighton had 13 to lead the visiting Eagles.
Caribou 55, John Bapst 49 – The Vikings limited Crusader freshman phenom Abby Pyne to two field goals while Selander poured in 27 points as Caribou upset the second-ranked team in Eastern Maine Class B at home Saturday afternoon.
“It was tight throughout, but we were able to get Pyne in foul trouble,” said Caribou coach Ryan Deprey. “More importantly, we wanted to force someone other than Pyne to beat us and it worked out.”
Michaud had the defensive assignment on Pyne, with Katie Keaton spelling Michaud on occasion, and the combo held her in check the whole game.
Jamie Martin’s 18-footer with two minutes to play gave Caribou a five-point lead. She added a pair of foul shots in the final minute to help the Vikes win for the eighth time this season. Massey scored 12 points for the Vikings and Selander was on her game throughout, according to Deprey.
“Jenna had a terrific all around game and she is playing really well right now,” said the coach. “Actually, we are all playing very well and seem to be hitting our stride at the right time.”
Ashland 43, Limestone-MSSM 27 – In what Ashland coach Kevin Paradis called “his team’s best effort of the season,” the visiting Hornets gained the victory Friday.
Ashland’s defense limited the Eagles to three points in the second quarter and four in the fourth, while Donovan spearheaded the Hornet offense with three three-pointers and a career-high 20 points.
Kayla Cote notched 13 points for the winners, including a pair of threes.
Leighton’s 11 points led Limestone-MSSM.
Washburn 51, Fort Fairfield 46 – In a battle between two of the powers in EM Class D, the Beavers hit their free throws down the stretch to win on the road last Wednesday.
Carmen Bragg had 19 points and Rebecca Campbell posted 10 to lead the winning offense.
Amanda Hotham and Brooke Beaulieu had 22 and 15 points, respectively, for the Tigers.
Fort Kent 44, Limestone-MSSM 41 – Sam Carapellucci proved to be too much last Tuesday, as she scored 15 points in the Warriors’ win at Limestone last Tuesday.
Fort Kent bolted to a 15-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Daniele Pelkey and Amanda Allen both scored 11 points for the Eagles.
