Sports Reporter
Presque Isle makes the trip 13 miles north to Caribou in an early-season battle between the rivals. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at CHS.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Josh Forsman of the Limestone/MSSM Eagles takes the ball in for a layup, while Wisdom’s Kody Chamberland trails the play, during last Tuesday’s game played at Limestone Community School. The Eagles were 53-28 victors.
Both coaches, Chris Casavant of Caribou and Tim Prescott of Presque Isle, expect a tough battle.
“We’ll need to limit their dribble penetration,” Casavant said. “We’ll have to defend really well to have a chance at winning.”
Casavant said the 2-2 Vikes, who he feels match up well size-wise with PI, will have to handle any traps the Wildcat might apply and also need to avoid rushing shots during possessions. That was a problem during the team’s weekend trip which resulted in losses to both Old Town and Mattanawcook.
Prescott knows Caribou is very capable of handing his team a defeat, and to avoid that he feels his team must keep the ball out of the hands of Viking senior guard Cameron Anderson and be aware of where sharp-shooter Matt Till is on the floor at all times.
Despite the 3-0 start, the Wildcat coach said his team must do a better job executing its offense. “We’re really not making any open jump shots,” he said, “so that definitely has to improve.”
Southern Aroostook 56, Limestone/MSSM 40 – Josh Forsman scored 18 points, but it wasn’t enough as Southern Aroostook picked up the victory at Limestone Monday. Dylan Caldwell added nine for the host Eagles.
Cody Robinson’s 17 points were tops for the victorious Warriors.
Mattanawcook 63, Caribou 52 – The Lynx held Caribou to 17-of-53 shooting from the field to win at home Saturday afternoon. Cameron Anderson scored 19 points to pace the Vikings, who trailed by one point entering the third quarter.
“We had breakdowns on defense and poor decision-making on offense,” said Caribou coach Chris Casavant. “It was inexperienced type of plays at inopportune times that killed us.”
Old Town 46, Caribou 40 – Caribou led by four points with six minutes to play, but forced up some shots the rest of the way and lost to the host Indians Friday.
Casavant said that despite shooting 15-of-43 from the field and 50 percent from the foul line during the game, his team had several chances to win. “We made some bad decisions and took some bad shots,” he said.
Matt Till scored 23 points, including five three-pointers, to pace Caribou’s attack. No other Viking player had more than seven points.
Hodgdon 63, Limestone/MSSM 26 – The twin towers of Dan and Andrew McGillicuddy combined for 33 points and 24 rebounds, while Chris Williams tossed in a game-high 19 points as Hodgdon bested the Eagles Friday at Hodgdon.
Forsman’s nine points led Limestone/MSSM.
Fort Fairfield 44, Madawaska 41 – At Madawaska Thursday, the Tigers battled back from an eight-point deficit after three quarters to stun the Owls.
Travis Noyes scored 19 points, seven which came in the final period, and Josh Churchill netted 11 more for the 2-0 Tigers.
Caribou 58, Fort Kent 22 – The Vikes broke out to a 25-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and blitzed the visiting Warriors last Tuesday.
Anderson scored 23 points and had five steals to lead Caribou. Till had seven points and seven rebounds and Chris Nadeau had seven points and five boards for the winners.
Limestone/MSSM 53, Wisdom 28 – The Eagles had their fast-break game working as they handled the Pioneers last Tuesday to give coach Jon Hamilton his first-career varsity win.
“The goal was to beat Wisdom up and down the floor before they could set up defensively,” Hamilton said. “When we noticed that they were not getting back, I told the rebounders to look up the floor as soon as they got the ball, because Josh Forsman was taking off towards the basket.”
Forsman connected on a number of uncontested layups and finished with 14 points. However, Dylan Caldwell was the star for the Eagles as he 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots in the game. “He has the potential to be a dominant player in the post,” Hamilton added.
Kody Chamberland’s eight points led Wisdom.
Fort Fairfield 59, Van Buren 42 – At Van Buren last Tuesday, Josh Churchill scored a team-best 15 points, while John McNamee tallied 11 and combined with Travis Noyes for 20 rebounds as the Tigers won their opener. Derek Rossignol netted 17 for the Crusaders.
