Rec hoop summaries

    The Caribou Recreation and Parks Department girls’ basketball team showed great efforts during their games in Millinocket Jan. 23 and 24. Although the girls struggled to score baskets, they took high-percentage shots that just did not fall. The defense was good as Caribou picked up many steals and created a lot of turnovers.      The first team Caribou faced was East Millinocket/Medway on Jan. 23. East Millinocket/Medway got out to a great start going on an 8-0 run through the first quarter.  Jenna Boucher of Caribou hit a jumper to stop the run, but East Millinocket/Medway did not let that bother them as they were unstoppable. Caribou fell short, 28-7, with Boucher finishing the game with four points and Madison Doucette adding three.
    The day’s second game against Lincoln was much of the same. Lincoln’s great defense gave Caribou a hard time to get the ball underneath. Caribou fought hard and kept shooting from the outside and managed to get a few shots to fall in this contest. It looked bad for the young Lady Vikes at halftime with a score of 24-4. The Vikings came out strong after intermission, outscoring Lincoln in the third quarter, 13-8, but then struggled in the fourth by scoring only one basket.
    Kaitlyn Nadeau worked very hard on the defensive end throughout the game for Caribou. Jillian Jandreau was Caribou’s high scorer with six points.  Doucette finished with five, while Eileen Patton and Boucher each added two. The final score was 40-17.
    Game three of the weekend and the first on Jan. 24 was another hard-fought game for the Vikings. Battling hard in the paint and grabbing rebounds were Connor Spencer and Sarah Draper. Meg Boone, Nadeau and Boucher had great looks at the basket but again the shots just were not falling. Caribou fell to Millinocket, 27-6. Patton netted three points, Hailey White dumped in two and Jandreau swished a foul shot for 1.
    The second game on Jan. 24 for the girls was a great back-and-forth game with Milo ending in a tie 17-17 after an overtime period. Finally the shots were falling and Caribou played great as a team by executing their plays and playing good defense. Caribou swung the ball around and created many opportunities for multiple girls to reach the scoring column. Boucher led the way with six points. Patton tallied three points and continued her great defense. Jandreau, Boone, Doucette and Draper all sank two points.     
    Caribou also traveled to Houlton on Jan. 30 for a single game. Caribou executed their plays and played well in a difficult gym to play in, but lost, 47-23. Patton was scoring leader by netting 10 points. Doucette converted three points, and Ashley Matlock, Gabrielle Marquis, Boone, Draper and White all had two points.
    The Caribou boys came back from their annual Millinocket trip with a 2-2 record after playing on Jan. 23 and 24 as well. The boys’ team played East Millinocket/Medway at Schenck High School for the first game of the trip. The young Vikings team started out hot, going on a 10-3 run to finish up the first quarter. After scoring two quick baskets in the second quarter, the Vikings went cold but managed to keep a lead by playing great defense. Late in the third, Caribou scored a basket to stop an eight-minute scoring drought and kept the pressure on the opposition. Caribou came out on top in this match, 29-20. Caribou scoring was as follows: Josiah Krul with seven points, Paul Hanson with six, Connor Plourde, Tyler Dombroski and Mason Huck with four apiece, Jordan Bevins with two and Ricky Sheldon with two.
    Game two on Jan. 23 saw the boys travel to Lincoln. The hosts came out of the gates ready to play hitting their first five shots. Caribou chipped away and kept the game in reach with a score of 24-15 at halftime.  Again in the third, Lincoln started out hot offensively and pulled ahead by 19 at one point, but the Vikings did not give in. Caribou edged to within eight in the fourth quarter before slipping away and getting defeated, 43-34. Scorers were Hanson with 13, Krul with seven, Dombroski with five, Ben Ezzy with two, Hunter Milliard with two, Huck with two and Dylan LaMothe with one.
    The Jan. 24 contests were both fun and close games for the boys Vikings team. The Vikings started out with a 16-4 run in the first period against Millinocket in the first game of the day. Running the plays and being patient, the Vikings kept their lead the entire game and outscored their opponent, 38-29. Krul was high scorer in this contest with 12 points. Following Krul in scoring was Dombroski with 11, Huck with six, Hanson with four, Plourde and Ricky Sheldon with two each and Matt Caron with one.
    The final game of the tourney was against Milo. The entire game Milo kept a close lead and could not pull ahead due to the tough defense by Caribou. Richard Newland, LaMothe and Austin Scott all played great defense and contributed on the offensive end with great passing. However, Caribou fell short, 41-37.  Hanson ended the game with 10 points, Huck had nine, Krul eight, Dombroski four, Bevins four and LaMothe two.