Sports Reporter
The Fort Fairfield Tigers are getting hot at the right time, with the Tigers picking up three big wins last week.
Central Aroostook rebounded from its loss to FF by defeating Hodgdon, Wisdom and Easton and improve to 10-1.
Presque Isle is also back on a roll, picking up three more victories. The Wildcats take on Houlton at home Thursday.
Ashland nipped Easton last week, but then dropped a road game at Southern Aroostook to fall below the .500 mark.
Summaries of games played through Monday, Jan. 11 are as follows:
Presque Isle 71, Fort Kent 37 – At Presque Isle Monday, the Wildcats made it two victories over Fort Kent in five days on the strength of scoring balance and a big game by junior Travis Dyer.
Twelve different PI players scored at least two points, with Dyer leading the way with 15 points to go along with five assists and four steals. Dillon Kingsbury was the only other PI player in double figures, as he had 10.
The Wildcats are now 10-1 on the season.
Jared Soucy’s 13 points paced the 4-8 Warriors.
Southern Aroostook 70, Ashland 58 – At Dyer Brook Monday, Cody Robinson and Dakota Sleeper combined for 45 points as the Warriors bested the Hornets.
Robinson had a game-high 27 points, while Sleeper netted 18.
The Hornet duo of Kenny Tarr (26 points) and Lucas Hafford (25) led their offense. Ashland fell to 5-6 with the loss.
Central Aroostook 73, Easton 45 – At Easton Monday, Caleb Kelly led the way with 19 points and Mitchell Folsom put in 11 more as the Panthers cruised to their 10th win against just one loss.
CA led at the quarter breaks, 17-7, 39-19 and 53-28. Holden Turner had nine points to pace the 4-8 Bears, who have lost six of their last eight contests.
Presque Isle 43, John Bapst 36 – At Bangor Saturday, Kingsbury had a big first half and Dyer carried the team in the second half as the Wildcats had to come from behind to defeat the upset-minded Crusaders.
Kingsbury connected on three of his four three-pointers in the first half and totaled 17 points. All four of Dyer’s three-pointers came in the second half which saw PI rally from a five-point deficit. Dyer also had seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
“He’s had three games in a row now without a turnover,” Prescott said. “Travis is becoming a steady player and is maturing as a floor leader.”
Ethan Braley had 11 rebounds for the Wildcats. However, Prescott said the lack of rebounding has been a problem area for Presque Isle.
“We got beat badly on the boards. Our bigger kids are not getting the job done,” he said. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the backboards.”
Prescott did like the way his team executed offensively during the final four minutes.
Lucas Phillipon scored 11 points for the Crusaders, who fell to 1-10 on the season.
The victory was the 300th of Prescott’s coaching career.
Fort Fairfield 51, Easton 37 – At Easton Saturday, the Tigers capped off a successful week on the hardwood with the win over the Bears.
Fort, 8-1 heading into last night’s home game against Limestone/MSSM, was spearheaded by Travis Noyes’ 23 points, 18 which came in the second half. He also had eight rebounds, while John McNamee had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Turner’s 16 points led the Bears.
Central Aroostook 70, Hodgdon 50 – At Hodgdon Saturday, the Panthers broke out to a 21-point halftime lead and cruised past the Hawks.
Dan Brewer scored 17 points, while older brother Kasey Brewer netted 13 for the victors. Kelly added another 10 points to the winning total.
Chris Williams fired in 28 points to pace the Hawks.
Fort Fairfield 56, Madawaska 45 – Noyes had another big game at home with Madawaska Thursday, putting in 23 points and securing a team-high eight rebounds as Fort got past the Owls. Josh Booth hit three three-pointers in the second quarter with Noyes and McNamee on the bench with foul trouble. Booth scored 13 points in the game.
Noyes hit five of his six free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to prevent an Owl comeback.
Deejay Gendreau’s 20 points led Madawaska.
Presque Isle 69, Fort Kent 37 – Dyer had 12 points and seven rebounds and Keenan Eaton scored 11 points as the Wildcats prevailed with ease at Fort Kent last Wednesday.
Curtis Bouchard scored 10 points to lead the Warriors.
Ashland 46, Easton 44 – At Ashland last Wednesday, Tarr made two free throws with 35 seconds to play as the Hornets held off the late-charging Bears, who had trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter.
Hafford and Jordan Beaulier had 17 and 11 points, respectively, for Ashland. Tarr finished with 12 points.
Reid Clark exploded for 10 fourth-quarter points and finished with 20 for Easton. Jonah Bacon also was in double figures with 10 points.
Fort Fairfield 58, Central Aroostook 51 – The Panthers fell out of the ranks of the undefeated as the Tigers came through with the win in Mars Hill last Tuesday.
Noyes scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, McNamee had 11 points and 12 boards and Josh Churchill 10 points for the winners, who held leads of 13-8, 25-10 and 37-36 at the end of each quarter.
Logan McLaughlin was high scorer for Central Aroostook with 16 points.
