The Wildcats win round one against the Caribou Vikings

13 years ago

By Jon Gulliver
Staff writer

CARIBOU — The rivalry was renewed Wednesday night as the Caribou Vikings hosted the Presque Isle Wildcats in a Class B schoolboy basketball showdown. Presque Isle won by 15 points, but the final score of 39-24 doesn’t tell the whole story.

sp-picargirls-dc2-arsh-03Aroostook Republican photo/Jon Gulliver
Caribou’s Jamie Martin (3) goes for the steal against Presque Isle Megan Ireland. In front of the play is Viking Anesha Hersey. The Wildcats won the game played in Caribou last week by a score of 66-29.

The game was a contrast in styles. Caribou looked to control the tempo and move the basketball and Presque Isle was content to push the ball up the court looking for the easy shot. The only problem in the first 12 minutes was those shots weren’t falling.

At the end of the first quarter Caribou clung to a one-point lead, 8-7. Midway through the second quarter the Wildcats upped their intensity with a three-quarter-court press, which didn’t lead to many turnovers initially, but changed the flow of the game.

“Caribou controlled the tempo for much of the first half, running their halfcourt offense and limiting our possessions,” said Wildcat coach Terry Cummings.

The low-scoring first half came to a close with Presque Isle holding onto a one-point lead, 13-12.

The third quarter belonged to the Wildcats who extended their lead to 26-15. Andrew Kofstad had two timely three-pointers to give Presque Isle some breathing room, but it was the ability to create turnovers which made the biggest difference.

“We talked at halftime about how we had to increase the pressure on the defensive end and in the second half we were able to do that,” said Cummings.

Cummings also pointed to the defensive effort of three of his guards.

“I thought defensively Cole Richards, Logan Good and Jonah Stephenson were very good at frustrating the Caribou guards and not letting them get many open looks,” he said.

Caribou was playing without one of their top scorers as Cody Herbert missed the game due to an illness. His points were missed, but Caribou coach Chris Casavant said it gave him the opportunity to play some people who normally don’t get a lot of minutes.

“Obviously, I’m not pleased with the outcome but pleased that we played hard and that we had guys who don’t contribute much step up and give a good effort,” said Casavant.

Freshman Dayne Savage led 5-5 Caribou with 10 points, while Derick Richardson scored eight points and Nick Pucci added six.

Tyler Brooks led 7-3 Presque Isle with 12 points, while Kofstad scored 11 points and Richards added six.