Sports Editor
The second week of high school basketball featured a number of exciting contests as teams are starting to find their rhythm on the court. Only two of the eight Aroostook County squads in the newspaper’s coverage area still boast undefeated records as Presque Isle and Washburn remain unbeaten on the season.
Squads will not have much of a holiday respite this year as regular season games are scheduled during the school recess.
The Maine Principals’ Association Heal Points standings as of Tuesday morning were:
Eastern Class B —3, Presque Isle (3-0, 3.6420 points) and 15, Caribou (1-3, 0.5556). Mt. Desert Island (3-0, 3.7963) and Winslow (3-0, 3.7963) are tied for first place.
Eastern Class D — 1, Washburn (4-0, 5.6463 points); 3, Central Aroostook (3-1, 3.1772); 4, Limestone-MSSM (1-4, 2.3148); 6, Easton (3-1, 1.8827); 8, Fort Fairfield (2-1, 1.5886); and 15, Ashland (1-2, 0.5556).
The following is a recap of games played through Monday, Dec. 20.
Southern Aroostook 66, Ashland 27— At Dyer Brook Monday, the Hornets struggled from the onset trailing Southern Aroostook 17-6 in the first quarter. That deficit grew to 34-15 at halftime and 53-23 after three stanzas.
Kayla Cote had 11 points to lead Ashland, while Whitney Donovan added six; Adrianna Paradis and Rylee Graham, each four; and Katelynn Orcutt, two.
For the Warriors, Kaitlyn Sommers had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Sable Altvater and Olivia Raymond each had 11.
Presque Isle 45, John Bapst 40 — At Presque Isle Saturday, the Wildcats overcame a 21-18 halftime deficit thanks to a 14-4 third quarter run. Karlee Bernier tallied all eight of her points in that third quarter rally. Kayla Richards led the Wildcats with 12 points, followed by Chandler Guerrette with eight; Chelsea Nickerson, six; Meredith Stewart, four; Casey Bonville, three; and Megan Ireland and Laurin Ackerson, two each.
For John Bapst, Abby Pine and Taylor Edgecomb each scored 12 points.
“We did not shoot well at all, but we played tough and got the defensive stops when we needed them,” Wildcat coach Jeff Hudson said. “Chelsea Nickerson played her best game of the season as she had six points, four steals, five rebounds and several deflections. We had had a long, tough week so it was nice to beat a good, solid team like Bapst.”
Washburn 74, Van Buren 39 — At Van Buren Friday, a 24-point effort by senior Rebecca Campbell lifted Washburn to the lop-sided victory. Washburn led 21-16, 51-27 and 59-31 at the quarter breaks. Other Washburn scorers were Carmen Bragg, 13; Maegan Fitzpatrick, nine; Sarah Sjoberg, eight; Nicole Olson, seven; Meghan Saucier, six; Olivia Doody and Carsyn Koch, two each; and Rayah Saucier, one.
For Van Buren, freshman sensation Parise Rossingol netted 23 in the loss.
Easton 50, Ashland 41 — At Easton Friday, the Bears used a 15-9 fourth-quarter rally to sting the Hornets for their third win on the season. Easton trailed 10-9 in the first quarter, but led 18-16 by the break. Easton’s lead grew to 14 by the end of the third quarter.
Ariana Babineau led Easton with 18 points, while Carla Halvorson chipped in nine; Mindy Desmond and Katie Cyr, each five; Sydney Trask, four; Brooke Hammond, three; and Mikaela Hathaway and Abigail Poole, each two.
For Ashland, Whitney Donovan netted 13, while Brooke Labelle added 12; Kayla Cote, nine; Paradis, five; and Graham, two.
“I knew coming in that we would have our hands full,” Ashland coach Kevin Paradis said. “Late in the second quarter Kayla Cote took a spill into the stage while attempting a layup. Although she did return later in the third quarter, she was not 100 percent.”
Easton coach Rachel Tomlinson was pleased with her team’s efforts.
“This was by far one of the best games Easton has seen in quite a few years,” she said. “Ashland’s quickness caused way too many turnovers for us once again, but we managed to overcome those mistakes. We had a height advantage, which allowed us to get the ball inside to our post players.”
Coach Paradis added his team went on a “terrible scoring drought” tallying just six points over a 10-minute span through the end of the second and start of the third quarter. During that span, Easton netted 17 points to break open the game.
The Hornets hit five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the game within striking distance, but the team ran out of gas down the stretch with two starters on the bench, having fouled out of the game.
“Not to take anything away from the Easton girls, but I’m afraid that we really beat ourselves,” coach Paradis said. “Turnovers again were our Achilles’ heel. We had 31 total. It is a shame because defensively I thought we were great. As a team, we had 19 steals.”
Coach Tomlinson said it has been a number of years since Easton has defeated Ashland in girls basketball.
“This game was certainly a confidence booster for the girls,” she said.
Central Aroostook 70, Wisdom 14 — At Wisdom Friday, the Panthers had no trouble with the Wisdom Pioneers. CAHS led 22-2, 39-5 and 53-9 at the quarter breaks. Vicki McIntyre led the Panthers with 21 points, while Rachael Grew added 20; Kristen Long, 10; Sarah Brewer, nine; Michaela King, four; and Kayla Cushman, Sara Grass and Sydney Smith each with two.
Alysa Dumond led Wisdom with six points.
Fort Fairfield 63, Van Buren 55 (OT) — At Van Buren Dec. 15, the Tigers received a 19-point effort from Amanda Hotham to lead Fort Fairfield to victory. Danielle Tracy added six of her 11 points in the extra period for the Tigers. Fort Fairfield scored 10 unanswered points in overtime.
Other Tiger scorers were Brooke Beaulieu, 15; Sydney Churchill and Rebekah Pelkey, five each; and Logan Bubar and Emily Blaisdell, four each.
For Van Buren, Rossignol had 27 points in the loss, while Ashlie Wilson added 18.
Central Aroostook 45, Madawaska 30 — At Madawaska Dec. 15, the Panthers received a 17-point effort from Grew to pick up the road win. McIntyre added 14, while Long chipped in eight; Olivia Garrison, four; and Cushman, two. For the Owls, Erin Dugal had 10 points.
CAHS led 11-8, 22-12 and 35-21 at the quarter breaks.
Limestone-MSSM 30, Easton 23 — At Limestone, Dec. 14, the Eagles notched their first win of the season, while handing Easton its first loss. Allen and S. Leighton combined for seven of nine foul shots late in the contest as the Eagles slowly pulled away. Hopkins led the Eagles with 10 points, followed by S. Leighton with six; Gray, four; Allen and Pelkey, three each; and Kelley and C. Leighton, two each.
For Easton, Babineau had eight; Trask, six; Halvorson, five; and Hammond and Desmond, two each.
“Give credit to the Limestone girls for showing up to play basketball for 32 minutes,” coach Tomlinson said. “We couldn’t handle their full-court pressure because we panicked, which caused us to turn the ball over way too many times.”
Tomlinson added the Bears allowed Limestone-MSSM to get to the foul line too often and the Bears did not take advantage of their own free throw chances.
“We had a lot of mental mistakes in the game with missed layups and foul shots,” she said. “Their [Limestone-MSSM’s] patience on offense is the patience I would like to see with my team.”
