The Caribou Vikings’ varsity basketball teams had their regular season debuts spoiled by the John Bapst Crusaders Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center.
John Bapst swept the doubleheader, with the girls collecting a 74-56 victory and the boys coming out on top, 39-30.
In the girls’ game, the Vikings could not slow down Crystal Bell, who went for 26 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. She had five three-pointers, while her older sister, Jocelyn, added three and finished with nine points.
Caribou got a solid offensive outing from junior Maddie Doucette, who led the way with 19 points. Ashley Matlock had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Gabrielle Marquis added eight points and Searra Herbert nine rebounds.
The boys’ game saw John Bapst limit Caribou to six first-half points in posting the win. The Vikings bounced back with a 24-point second half, but could not catch up after being down by 17 at intermission.
Andre Rossignol, a transfer from Van Buren playing his first game for the Vikes, was the offensive leader with 18 points. No other Caribou player had more than four points.The team played without starting senior point guard Donovan Savage, who returns for Saturday’s road contest against Foxcroft Academy.
The Washburn girls, the five-time Class D state champions, also debuted on the road and defeated Hodgdon, 48-38, in a game played Friday.
Emilia Churchill poured in 22 points and Grace Braley added 16 as the Beavers raced out to an 11-point lead after a quarter and kept the margin close to that the rest of the evening. Sydney Howell netted a team-high 18 points for the Hawks.
In other action, the Fort Fairfield girls shut down Limestone-MSSM, 51-23, in another game played Friday. The Tigers bolted to a 27-1 advantage after the opening quarter in the dominating performance. Taylor Churchill scored 20 points and Chelsey Pelkey tallyed 12 to lead the winning offense.
Jackie Peers had seven points for the Eagles.
The Tiger boys recorded a 61-36 triumph over the Eagles that night behind Chris Giberson’s 18 points. Isaac Cyr had eight and Jonah Daigle seven as 11 players scored for the defending Class D regional champs.
Alex Sprague led Limestone-MSSM with 13 points.
The Eagles turned things around Monday and bested Ashland on the road, 56-26. Victor Negron tallied 15 points and Sprague had 12 points and seven assists and Dalton Canonico 12 points for the winners, giving Brian Massey his first varsity coaching victory. Mason Deabay’s seven points were tops for Ashland.
In the LCS/MSSM girls’ 25-19 loss at Ashland, Jessica Lindsay grabbed 20 rebounds and Peers and Madeline Williams were the scoring leads for the Eagles with six each.
