Sports Editor
CARIBOU — Middle school basketball squads from Caribou remained busy last week with bundle of games played. The following is a recap of games reported to the newspaper by press time.
Boys basketball
The Caribou Middle School sixth and seventh grade boys basketball team started the season 5-0 with wins against Limestone, Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle White, Madawaska and Presque Isle Blue. The sixth and seventh graders have used a balanced, aggressive, up-tempo offense coupled with a dominating man-to-man defense to help secure the victories. The team is coached by Troy Barnes and managed by Brendan Cyr.
Against Limestone, Caribou was victorious 46-25. The Vikings led 17-7, 29-10 and 40-18 at the quarter breaks. Leading scorers for the Vikings were Dayne Savage, Donovan Savage, and Taylor Thibodeau each with eight points; Michael Hunter and Nate Wyman both six.
Against Fort Fairfield, Caribou was victorious 40-12. The Vikings led 12-2, 20-5 and 31-7 at the quarter breaks. Leading the way was Dayne Savage with eight points; Donovan Savage added seven, including a 3-pointer; Thibodeau scored six, while Hunter and Wyman both added four.
Against Presque Isle White, Caribou rolled to an 82-13 win. The Vikings led 22-3, 46-7 and 61-9 at the quarter breaks. Pacing Caribou was once again Dayne Savage with 18 points including three – 3-pointers; Donovan Savage followed with 12 points, including two 3-pointers; Holdsworth added 10, two 3-pointers; Hunter also added 10. Against Madawaska, Caribou notched a 50-17 victory. The Vikings led 16-2, 30-4 and 40-13 at the quarter breaks. Dayne Savage and Matt Milton paced the Vikings with 10 points apiece; Nate Wall added eight.
Against Presque Isle Blue, Caribou was victorious 44-26. The Vikings led 10-3, 24-8 and 39-14 at the quarter breaks. Pacing Caribou was Dayne Savage with 11 points; Thibodeau added eight; Donovan Savage and Wall, both six.
The Caribou eighth grade squad split games last week, beating Presque Isle Blue 41-34 Saturday, but falling 41-39 to Caribou Tuesday, Dec. 8.
Against Presque Isle Blue, the Vikings trailed 8-7, 24-17 and 31-24 at the quarter breaks before surging ahead in the final frame. With the win, Caribou improved to 3-1.
“Caribou’s great defense held P.I. to only three points in the fourth quarter to clamp down and finally take the lead for the win,” Caribou coach Steve Perreault said.
Derek Richardson and Matt Frost sparked the Vikings, especially in the fourth quarter, as they both finished with eight points. Other Caribou scorers were: Breen Blackstone, seven; Matt Milliard and Kameron Manter, both six; Adam Collins, four. Dylan Berkoski and Cody Herbert were solid rebounding.
Presque Isle Blue was led by Chase Norton with 10 points, while Karson Eaton and Karson Wilcox both added six.
At Caribou Dec. 8, the Vikings trailed Madawaska 8-7, 18-17 and 35-26 at the quarter breaks.The Vikings made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, only to fall short 41-39.
“Caribou missed some key free throws in the last minute to allow Madawaska to come away with the tough win at Caribou,” coach Perreault said.
The Vikes were led in scoring by Frost and Blackstone, both with 10 points; Collins added six; and Derek Richardson, five. Cody Herbert also played well in the game, the coach said.
Madawaska was led in scoring by Corey Nadeau with 17 points and Ian Lee added 11.
Girls basketball
The Caribou eight grade squad fell to Fort Fairfield 27-14 Dec. 10. Fort Fairfield led 9-2, 18-8 and 23-8 at the quarter breaks. Caribou was led by Clara Collins (6 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 steals); Delaney Williams (4 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals); Shyanne Barnes (2 points, 17 rebounds and 4 steals); and Brooke St. Peter (2 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals).
Leading Fort Fairfield was L. Bubar with seven.
On Monday, Dec. 14, Caribou squeaked past Houlton 23-21. Caribou led 6-4 in the first quarter, but Houlton was on top 12-8 at halftime. The two squads were tied at 18-18 after three stanzas.
Caribou was led by Barnes (10 points and16 rebounds); Collins (6 points and 16 rebounds); and Alana Sirois (3 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals). Other contributors for the Vikings included Sam Adams (7 rebounds and 7 steals), and Alissa Irving (4 rebounds).
As a team Caribou (3-3) had their highest rebounding game pulling down 66 carooms and had a team total of 28 steals.
Leading scorers for Houlton were Samantha Keegan with eight points and Tessa Lilley with five.
The Caribou seventh grade girls defeated Fort Fairfield 51-11 Dec. 10 to improve to 6-0 on the season. Caribou led 21-0, 41-0 and 43-9 at the quarter breaks.
Hannah Graham led all scorers with 22 points, while Sarah Doak added nine; Abbi Theriault, six. Makayla Bouchard, Emilee Susi, and Katie Sirois all played well defensively.
