Despite Monday’s 50-39 loss at Houlton, the Presque Isle Wildcat boys remain atop the Eastern Maine Class B basketball standings.
PI has a record of 11-2, with both losses coming to the Shiretowners, and still sit in first place, 7.4 points ahead of No. 2 Winslow and 10.7 ahead of No. 3 Oceanside.
The Wildcat girls maintain the top ranking in their division following Saturday’s win over Old Town. Presque Isle, at 13-0, leads No. 2 Oceanside by 9.2 points and third-place Nokomis by 17.9.
The Presque Isle teams have a big weekend ahead. The girls and boys travel to Hancock County for games against Mount Desert Island Friday and Ellsworth Saturday.
In Class D, the Washburn girls and Central Aroostook boys continue to lead the way. Washburn, at 12-0, is 6.9 points ahead of second-place Hodgdon. The Panther boys, with their 11-1 mark, is a mere nine tenths of a point up on No. 2 Jonesport-Beals.
Summaries of various games played through Monday are as follows:
Houlton boys 50, Presque Isle 39 — At Houlton Monday, the Shires held the lead for most of the contest and hit their foul shots down the stretch to sweep the season series and hand PI only its second loss of the season.
A three-pointer midway through the third quarter by Wildcat junior Cody Lyford gave his team its first lead, but Houlton quickly reclaimed the advantage and held on by hitting 12 of its 14 free throw attempts in the final quarter.
Nick Guiod and Kyle Bouchard had 14 points each to lead the undefeated Shires, while Jonah Stephenson nailed four three-pointers to finish with a game-high 16 for Presque Isle.
Easton girls 41, East Grand 16 — The host Bears got 12 points, 14 rebounds and four steals from junior forward Cassie Buck in the easy victory over the Vikings of Danforth Monday afternoon.
Easton has a big game looming Monday at Van Buren. The Bears lost the first meeting Dec. 28, 44-39. Easton is currently in 10th place in the Eastern Maine Class D Heal Point rankings with its 8-5 record and the sixth-place Crusaders, led by junior guard Parise Rossignol, are 8-4.
Easton boys 64, East Grand 22 — In the second game of the doubleheader, the Bear boys moved to 9-3 behind a career-high 15 points from Tyler Gadaire.
Jared Hafford netted 12 points in the victory over winless East Grand.
Easton is now 9-3 and in 10th place in the EM Class D standings. The Bears host Ashland Friday and Limestone-MSSM Monday in upcoming games.
Central Aroostook girls 61, Katahdin 58 — The Panthers are now 5-8 and moved into 14th place in the rankings by winning Monday at Stacyville. Page Fletcher had 16 points, Kayla Cushman 13 and Karli Levesque 10 for the winners, who ended a four-game losing streak. CA’s last win had come at home against Katahdin Jan. 4.
Ashland boys 55, Van Buren 40 — The Hornets slid into the 15th and final playoff position in EM Class D and have now won two of their last three heading into tonight’s home matchup against Wisdom.
In Saturday’s win over the Crusaders, senior forward Tyler Levesque erupted for 21 points and 15 rebounds. Cody Blair had 18 points for 4-8 Ashland.
Presque Isle boys 62, Old Town 52 — Bradley Shields dominated inside with 15 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Wildcats won at home Saturday. Stephenson had 14 points and nine assists and Lyford 12 points and three steals for PI. Garrett Libby scored 33 to pace the Coyotes.
Presque Isle girls 73, Old Town 44 — The unbeaten ’Cats led by just four points at halftime, but outscored the Coyotes by a 38-13 over the final 16 minutes for another convincing win.
Meredith Stewart reached her season-high with 19 points, while Chandler Guerrette had 16 and Karli Bernier 13 to lead PI’s offense.
Fort Kent boys 67, Fort Fairfield 58 — The Tigers dropped to 6-7 with Saturday’s loss at Fort Kent, despite 21 points from senior center Andrew Lewis.
Fort Fairfield is now in eighth place and had a big game against undefeated Washburn Tuesday night at home. The Tigers play Wisdom in St. Agatha Friday and then take on Hodgdon at home Tuesday, Jan. 29 in another point-worthy contest.
Fort Kent girls 55, Fort Fairfield 48 — The Warriors put an end to Fort’s six-game winning streak behind Chelsey Plourde’s 18 points. Sydney Churchill scored 16, nailing four three-pointers along the way, for the Tigers, the third-place team in EM Class D with their 9-3 record. Fort, with big wins over Hodgdon and Limestone-MSSM last week, hosts Central Aroostook tonight before hitting the road for games Friday at Wisdom and Monday at Madawaska.
Limestone-MSSM girls 57, Ashland 33 — The Hornets fell to 1-11 with Friday’s home loss against the Eagles. Kayla Cote was in double figures for Ashland, the No. 17 team in the division, with 10 points. The Hornets, with a seven-game losing streak, meet up against Wisdom at home this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. and then plays unbeaten Washburn Friday on the road before playing at home against Katahdin Monday.
Central Aroostook boys 60, Southern Aroostook 40 — The Panthers won their 11th game of the season Friday by downing the Warriors in Dyer Brook. Steven Decker’s 26 points paced CA and Joe Stiles was also in double digits with 10.
The Panthers face a busy week with some crucial contests, having played Fort Kent at home last night, meeting up against Hodgdon on the road Thursday and hosting unbeaten Washburn Saturday.
Washburn boys 54, Easton 30 — The visiting Beavers raced out to an 11-0 lead and controlled last Tuesday’s game to stay perfect. Mitchell Worcester netted 32 points in the win, with Hafford tallying 10 to lead Easton.
Washburn is in fourth place in the standings.
Washburn girls 61, Central Aroostook 19 — The Beavers are in the midst of an eight-day layoff, but Thursday’s win in Mars Hill gave the team a 12-0 record heading into a home game against Ashland set for Friday.
Mackenzie Worcester had 21 points and Joan Overman, who recently returned from a shoulder injury, had 15. Kayla Cushman’s 10 points paced the Panthers.