By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The final Heal Point standings will be released Feb. 13, and the Central Aroostook boys still lead the way in the Eastern Maine Class D rankings.
Contributed photo/jMavor Photography
Stephen St. Peter gets a shot off close to the basket during Saturday’s 59-45 loss to Ellsworth. It was Caribou’s first home loss of the season.
The Panthers (15-0) have compiled a tournament index of 91.1765 and have opened up a large lead over second-place Jonesport-Beals, whose 10-1 record gives them a tourney index of 52.0877.
Schenck (10-4) is third with a tourney index of 50, while Washburn (13-1) is fourth at 47.4982.
The rest of the top 10 includes Machias (10-2, 37.1569), Deer Isle-Stonington (9-5, 32.1260), Easton (10-4, 31.6794), Katahdin (9-4, 31.6376), Fort Fairfield (9-6, 30.6046) and Southern Aroostook (8-5, 17.8758).
Ashland (5-10, 10.6881) is in 12th and Limestone-MSSM (0-15, 0.0000) in 20th.
Only the top 10 will qualify for the playoffs, with those among the top six not having to play in the preliminary round and getting an automatic bid into the tournament, which is held at the Bangor Auditorium Feb. 18-26.
In Class B, Presque Isle moved up to No. 4 by virtue of their win over Mount Desert Island Saturday. The Wildcats, at 12-1, have a tournament index of 61.1111 and trail Camden Hills (14-0, 95.0617), Ellsworth (13-0, 81.3272) and Medomak Valley (11-3, 75.6173) in the rankings.
Making up the remainder of the top 10 in the division are Winslow (11-3, 60.4938), Gardiner (10-4, 56.1728), MDI (12-2, 56.1728), Nokomis (8-6, 35.6481), Caribou (10-4, 34.1049) and Hermon (5-7, 32.5617).
Just like in Class D, only the top 10 teams will qualify for the post-season. Teams in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th positions will have to compete in a preliminary playoff game.
Summaries of games played through Monday, Jan. 31 are as follows:
Washburn 89, Ashland 57 – The Beavers turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 28-point bulge after three quarters Monday in beating the Hornets for the second time this season.
Mitch Worcester had a big night with 36 points, a total that included five three-point field goals. Teammates Jordan McLaughlin and Mason Turner added 17 and 10, respectively.
Kenny Tarr had 20 points and Tyler Levesque 19 for visiting Ashland.
Caribou 66, Mattanawcook Academy 37 – In a make-up game from Jan. 21, the Vikings eased past the Lynx of Lincoln Monday in Caribou.
Stephen St. Peter scored all 18 of his points in the second half to lead Caribou’s offense. Roland Thibodeau added 12 as all 11 Viking players scored at least a point. Chad Caverhill made a halfcourt shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
Chase Vicaire scored nine points to lead Mattanawcook.
Ellsworth 59, Caribou 45 – The visiting Eagles outscored the Vikings 19-5 in the second quarter Saturday to break open a close game and win to stay undefeated.
Cote Card scored 18 points and teammates Andrew Austin and Nick Richie netted 14 each for Ellsworth.
St. Peter again led the way for Caribou with 13 points and Thibodeau totaled 11.
Fort Fairfield 77, Wisdom 46 – The unselfishness of Travis Noyes and balanced scoring helped the Tigers defeat Wisdom Friday in Fort Fairfield. Noyes notched 21 assists, while Dereck Dufour led in scoring with 19 points. Jahleel Williams (15), Noyes (10), Dylan Caldwell (10) and Austin Bernier (10) were others in double figures.
Noyes completed his triple-double by hauling in 12 rebounds. Three Tiger players, Andrew Lewis, Dylan Caldwell and Brandon Clark, grabbed nine rebounds apiece.
Curtis Picard scored 16 points to lead the Pioneers.
Washburn 71, Limestone-MSSM 33 – McLaughlin netted 21 points and Worcester added 12 as the Beavers had no problem defeating the Eagles at home Thursday.
Eleven different Washburn players scored points in the game, which saw the Beavers bolt to a 20-4 lead at the end of one quarter.
Josh Forsman’s six points led the Eagles.
Ashland 45, Limestone-MSSM 37 – The Hornets registered the victory at Limestone last Tuesday behind Tarr’s 16 points and 15 from Levesque.
Jordan Beaulier also reached double figures with 12.
Cody Bryant was the Eagles’ only double-digit scorer with 10 points.
Washburn 77, Fort Fairfield 76 (OT) – In a wild game played at Fort Fairfield last Tuesday, Worcester’s three-pointer with five seconds to play forced overtime and McLaughlin canned a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime as the Beavers fought back from a nine-point deficit with three minutes to go in regulation.
Worcester netted a career-best 47 points. He scored 32 in the second half and overtime. McLaughlin scored 15.
Noyes had a brilliant all-around effort in the loss. He scored 31 points and also had 11 rebounds and nine assists. Clark scored 14 points and Caldwell added 13.
That was one of the most exciting, intense hard fought game I have ever had the chance to be a part of,” said Fort Fairfield coach Todd Alley. “We needed to limit turnovers and we had 19 and they only had six.
“If you had told me Mitch would have 47 and we still had a shot to win it, I would have had a hard time believing that,” he added. “My kids played hard, their kids played hard. We need to learn from the mistakes we made and come with that intensity the rest of the way.”
