PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — It ended up being worth the wait for the Wildcat boys’ basketball team.
Presque Isle’s Class B North preliminary playoff game against Ellsworth was delayed a day due to Wednesday’s stormy weather downstate, but it didn’t matter. The Wildcats grabbed a nine-point halftime lead and held on against the gritty Eagles, winning 60-50 at Presque Isle High School Thursday.
Presque Isle, the No. 5 seed, improved to 14-5, while Ellsworth, the defending regional champions, ended up at 8-11.
The Wildcats led for most of the game, but the visitors stayed close until the final minutes of play. Junior guard Griffin Guerrette netted 24 points, including some big ones down the stretch, to lead the winning offense. Sophomore Jason Dumais provided a career-best 15 points, with 12 coming in a first half which saw PI build a 29-20 lead.
The Eagles lost their point guard and leading scorer, senior Bryce Harmon, to an ankle injury early in the second period and he never returned. Ellsworth still battled behind forward Jared Hamilton, who had a team-high 20 points, but couldn’t pull out the victory.
Bradley Kinney scored 10 points and Jonah Hudson added eight for the Wildcats, who will next take on No. 4 Orono in the quarterfinals Saturday at 10:35 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. The two teams played Jan. 14 at PIHS with the Red Riots coming away with a 61-50 victory.
