Vikes, Shires and ‘Cats deliver big hoop wins

6 years ago

The Caribou, Houlton and Presque Isle girls all recorded basketball victories Wednesday over previously undefeated teams.

The Vikings defeated Mount Desert Island, the Shiretowners bested Stearns and the Wildcats got past Ellsworth, all on their home courts and by double-digit margins.

Caribou and Presque Isle are back in action Thursday as the Vikes will host Ellsworth at 11:30 a.m. and the Wildcats host MDI at 1 p.m.

The Central Aroostook girls, coming off Wednesday’s 41-39 home victory over Madawaska, entertain Washburn in a 5:30 p.m. start Thursday. One other girls’ game involving area teams is planned as Wisdom makes the long trip south to take on Southern Aroostook at 1 p.m.

Six boys’ contests are slated, including MDI at Presque Isle, Ellsworth at Caribou and Wisdom vs. Greater Houlton Christian Academy at Dyer Brook, all at 2:30 p.m.; and Washburn at Central Aroostook, Easton at Katahdin and Houlton at Mattanawcook Academy, all at 7 p.m.

In wrestling, Caribou joins Calais, Washington Academy of East Machias, PCHS of Guilford, Dexter and Mattanawcook Academy for a tourney hosted by Penobscot Valley High School in Howland beginning at 10 a.m.

One event has been cancelled. An alpine ski meet, to be hosted by Bigrock Ski Area in Mars Hill and open to all the local high schools, was called off due to the extremely cold temperatures.

Summaries of the basketball games played on a busy Wednesday are as follows:

Girls basketball

Presque Isle 72, Ellsworth 50 — Six different Wildcat players combined for 14 3-point field goals, led senior point guard Emily Wheaton’s five, as PI surged past the Eagles.

Wheaton finished with 11 points, while Maggie Castonguay added 11 and Chrissy Skidgel 10, with Castonguay drilling three 3-pointers and Skidgel two. Madison Jandreau (two), Madison Michaud and Sydney Thompson were the others hitting the long-range shots for the Wildcats, who improved to 3-0.

Katelyn Bagley scored 20 points for Ellsworth, which suffered its first loss after opening with three victories.

Caribou 67, MDI 56 — Trailing by four points after three quarters, the Vikings mounted a comeback thanks to a 22-7 scoring run over the final eight minutes.

Searra Herbert finished with 18 points, Gabrielle Marquis totaled 16, Paige Espling notched 15 and Kimmy Susi came off the bench to score 12 for Caribou, which moved to 3-3.

MDI suffered its first loss after a 4-0 start. The Trojans had three players in double figures, paced by Julia Watras’s 17 points.

Houlton 64, Stearns 42 — The Shires ran their record to 4-0 and sent the Minutemen to their first loss behind Kolleen Bouchard’s 35 points and seven assists.

Houlton led by nine points at the end of three quarters but closed things out with a 17-4 run in the final period. Teagan Ewings netted 13 points and Abbie Worthley had eight more for the winners.

Katherine Alley scored 15 points for Stearns, who fell to 6-1.

Central Aroostook 41, Madawaska 39 — The Panthers picked up a big win as Kassie Levesque sunk a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to snap a tie in the game played in Mars Hill.

Levesque finished with 12 points, while younger sister Kate added nine and Macie Beals and Breanna Bradbury tossed in seven each.

Jenna Dugal’s 20 points paced the Owls. Both teams are now 2-2 on the season.

Shead 55, Fort Fairfield 46 — In a battle of the Tigers played in Eastport, the home team won out behind Cassidy Wilder’s 14 points and 13 more from Justine Cheney. Shead (3-3) led by four points at half but stretched it out to eight at the end of three quarters and held on.

Cammi King-Demerchant paced Fort Fairfield (4-3) with 21 points, while Brenna Levasseur added 10.

Woodland 73, East Grand 23 — The host Dragons defeated the Vikings to move to 4-1 and send East Grand to their sixth consecutive loss to begin the season. Individual scoring was not reported.

Boys basketball

Presque Isle 65, Ellsworth 42 — Senior point guard Griffin Guerrette led the charge with 25 points, while Jonah Hudson and Caleb Wheaton each connected on three 3-pointers and added 15 and 12, respectively, in the Wildcats’ home victory.

Presque Isle used a 21-8 scoring run in the second quarter to bounce back after trailing by five at the end of one. The victory was the third in a row for PI following its opening-game loss at Washington Academy.

Jackson Curtis paced Ellsworth (2-3) with 16 points, while Jared Hamilton added nine.

MDI 56, Caribou 49 — Finn McConomy hit all three of his 3-pointers in the second half as the Trojans battled back from a five-point deficit at intermission and defeated the host Vikings.

McConomy finished with a team-high 14 points, while Drew Shea put in 12 for MDI, who improved to 5-0.

Nick Allen scored 18 points and Parker Deprey finished with 12 for Caribou, now 3-3.

Southern Aroostook 65, Hodgdon 50 — The Warriors led throughout to pick up the road win and even their record at 3-3. Garrett Siltz tallied 20 points, Jayden Burpee 18 and Hunter Burpee 15 for SA.

Wyatt Foster scored 16 points and Josh Palmer netted 10 for Hodgdon, which fell to 3-4.

Woodland 75, East Grand 31 — At Woodland, Alex Morrison scored 15 points among three players in double figures to lead the Dragons to victory, their sixth straight to begin the campaign.

Sabre Phelps netted 14 points and Chris Plissey put in 10 for Woodland.

Thomas Gilman posted a game-high 16 points to lead East Grand (2-3) and Matthew Potter chipped in with 10.

Central Aroostook 74, Madawaska 44 — The Panthers nabbed a convincing victory at home over the Owls. Central Aroostook has now won three in a row after losing its opener, while Madawaska’s record leveled at 2-2. Individual scoring was not reported.