Presque Isle girls,
Easton boys continue winning ways
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The Presque Isle girls’ basketball team may have just four players back from last year’s state champions, but all they do is just keep winning games.
CHAMPS HONORED — There was a reunion of sorts at the Foxcroft-PI basketball doubleheader Dec. 21 as the 2013 Class B state champion Presque Isle Wildcats gathered for the unveiling of the gym wall hanging depicting their title. In front from left are Kayla Girardin, Taylor Williams and Amelia Sharp. Back row, Meredith Stewart, Liza Buck, Chandler Guerrette, Karlee Bernier, Megan Ireland, Hannah Graham, Laurin Ackerson, Krystal Kingsbury, Regan Nelson, Kali Warner, Katie McKenna, coach Jeff Hudson, Mikayla Albert and assistant coaches Ralph Michaud and Tim McCue.
Photo by Barry Gutradt
BLOCKING A SHOT attempted by MDI’s Molly Carroll Saturday is Wildcat sophomore Taylor Williams, who made an impact on both ends of the floor in the 58-56 Presque Isle victory.
The Wildcats faced their toughest test of the season over the weekend when they traveled to Hancock County for back-to-back games against Ellsworth and MDI. They improved to 8-0 by sweeping the opponents and extending their overall winning streak, which dates back to February of 2011, to 52 games.
The biggest win of the weekend was over the Trojans Saturday morning.
“Everyone has talked about MDI and Nokomis being the teams to beat in Eastern B, so this win should give our team a lot of confidence going forward,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson.
The Wildcats trailed 7-0 early on, but Hudson said his squad came up with big plays when they were most needed and prevailed, 58-56.
PI netted eight three-point field goals in the contest, compared to just two by MDI. Hannah Graham scored a game-high 25 points, including four of the threes, while Taylor Williams had 14 points (three threes) and Morgan Wilcox came off the bench to toss in seven more points.
“They limited our inside game with their size [as evidenced by Krystal Kingsbury’s six-point output], but we had some key contributions from everyone,” Hudson said.
Against Ellsworth Friday in the 70-42 win, Kingsbury was dominant with 26 points and Graham netted 15 more.
“We pounded it inside and Krystal was great,” Hudson said.
PI is now in first place in the division heading into Tuesday’s game at Houlton.
“We’re excited and proud to be where we are at this point in the season,” Hudson said. “We expect to win every game we play and thus far we’ve done that. We play harder than every team we play, have a huge heart as a team and we never, ever quit.
“We know we have a long ways to go, but Saturday’s win was big because MDI had been beating everyone by 40 or 50 points and is a great team,” he added. “We have a couple days to enjoy it and then it’s back to work.”
Contributed photo/jMavor Photography
HUSTLE PLAY — Nick Clark of the Easton Bears reaches to corral a loose ball, while Washburn’s Cameron Preston (25) and Noah Caron (41) also make an attempt for possession during Saturday’s game in Washburn. Preston ended up fouling Clark on the play. The Bears improved to 7-0 with the 67-53 victory.
The Easton Bears boys’ squad is the only other undefeated team from the region. The Bears moved to 7-0 Saturday after besting Washburn, 67-53, in a game that went back and forth during a frenetic first half before Easton settled in over the final 16 minutes on the Beavers’ home floor.
“I thought we played Washburn’s style in the first half, which isn’t what we wanted,” said coach Dillon Kingsbury. “We tried to make it a point in the second half to play our style and run some set plays and that helped us pull away.”
The frontcourt combination of Hunter Turner and Drew Sotomayor took care of a bulk of the scoring with 21 and 19 points, respectively, but Kingsbury said the defensive contributions of Cody Halvorson and Nick Clark did not go unnoticed. Both helped limit the Beavers’ perimeter game and came up with some big steals and stops at key junctures.
“I can’t say enough great things about the way they play defense,” said the third-year coach.
Jarrett Olson and Noah Caron scored 16 points each for 3-2 Washburn.
The Bears now find themselves in first place in the EM ‘D’ rankings, just ahead of Hodgdon for the top spot. Easton has a couple more big games coming up — Saturday at Fort Fairfield and Tuesday at Central Aroostook.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers are coming off an impressive 62-47 win over CA Friday in a game played in Mars Hill. The Tigers broke out to a 13-point lead in the first half and while the Panthers were able to claw back to within four in the third quarter, FF lengthened the lead throughout the final eight minutes.
Noah Bernard nailed four three-pointers and had a team-best 16 points, while Johnny Theriault netted 12 free throws en route to his 14-point total.
Chandler Brewer carried the offensive for CA with 22 points.
The Presque Isle Wildcat boys are heading in the right direction after starting with an 0-3 record. PI entered the weekend with a modest two-game winning streak and came close to sweeping their opponents Ellsworth and MDI over the weekend, but instead settled for a split.
PI coach Terry Cummings said his team “really clicked” in the 51-48 victory over MDI.
“We had let one slip away from us the previous night against Ellsworth, but we met as a team at the hotel afterwards and the meeting helped us get back on track and come together,” Cummings said. “We went into the game on a mission.”
The Wildcats had extra motivation after being knocked out of the tournament each of the last two seasons by the Trojans.
The game was close throughout and MDI actually took a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter before things turned around for the ’Cats.
“We took care of the ball, hit our free throws and came away with a huge win in a tough place to get a victory,” Cummings said. “I’m very happy and proud of the guys for finding a way to grind it out and we will try to carry that momentum into the new year.”
Cody Lyford (11 points) and Brad Shields (10) led the PI offense, while Mike Boone had a strong floor game and also chipped in with nine points. Drew Bates and Karson Eaton also came up with big efforts for the winners.
On Friday, PI led early in the fourth quarter but turnovers and poor foul shooting resulted in a 50-42 defeat.
“We let one slip away from us,” Cumming said. “We couldn’t close the game out.”
Eaton had 11 points and Shields nine to pace PI’s offense. Nicholas Bagley scored 17 to lead Ellsworth.
