Girls fall short in comeback attempt
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CARIBOU – The Vikings have relied on an aggressive defense and a patient offense en route to their brilliant and surprising start to the season.
Contributed photo/beckysheaphoto
IN THE PAINT — Stephen St. Peter of the Vikes gets a shot off over Hermon’s Braddock Deabay during Saturday’s 41-31 victory.
Those elements were in place again Saturday and the result was an impressive 41-31 home victory over theHermon Hawks.
Caribou won for the seventh time in eight games and needed to shake off a slow start to do it.
Hermon scored the game’s first six points and held an 18-10 lead with 4:14 to play in the second quarter before Caribou went to work.
A three-pointer and two foul shots by junior point guard Chad Caverhill got Caribou to within two points at halftime.
Caverhill, who was not an offensive weapon in his first two years with the team, has been a weapon this year with several double-digit performances and an average of close to 8 points per game.
“As a freshman and sophomore, I just wanted to not turn the ball over and get the ball to my teammates,” Caverhill said. “I worked a lot on my dribbling skills and my shot during the off-season.”
Caribou took its first lead(23-20) on a Matt Till three-pointer with 4:20 left in the third and never trailed again.
A big key was the job Caribou did on the offensive glass. After allowing four in the first quarter, the Vikes gave up only two the rest of the way against the formidable Hawk front line.
Staff Photo/Kevin Sjoberg
DRIBBLING IN — Senior Danielle Violette makes a move along the baseline for Caribou Saturday. The Vikes lost, 64-53.
“We limited a pretty good rebounding team,” said Caribou coach Chris Casavant. “Our guys did a great job boxing out.”
Till scored 19 points and Caverhill finished with 10 for the Vikings. Brandon Holdsworth had some big offensive moments in the second half and finished with seven points.
Caribou’s patience on the offensive end was another important factor in the win.
“Coach tells us to take our time because it’s demoralizing to a team as opposed to taking a quick shot,” said senior guard Roland Thibodeau. “Nobody wants to have to play defense for more than a minute.”
Caribou committed just nine turnovers in the game, the same amount as Hermon.
“If we can stay even or commit fewer turnovers, that’s big for us because we know we are going to take better shots,” Casavant said.
Things did not go quite as well for the Caribou girls, who found themselves trailing by 17 points at halftime and by as many as 21 points in the third quarter before making a push that came up short.
“We can’t come out flat and we did that,” said Caribou coach Ryan Deprey of the first half, which saw Hermon hit shot after shot to build the big lead.
Freshman Raychel Alleyand senior Ashley Thayer netted three three-pointers each before intermission, and the Hawks also dominated inside to go up 37-20 at the half.
The lead spread to 43-22 midway through the third before Caribou got strong performances from Alexa Massey, Rebecca McDougal and Jenna Selander to get to within six points (51-45) with 4:20 to play.
“Our trap worked out and we got some steals, and Alexa was strong inside, Rebecca got to the line and Jenna shot well,” Deprey said of the comeback attempt.
Selander sparked Caribou with 23 points, including three 3-pointers, while Massey added 18 in the loss – Caribou’s fifth of the season against three wins.
Staff Photo/Kevin Sjoberg
FAKE — Senior center Brandon Holdsworth eyes the rim during Saturday’s game at CHS. The Vikes improved to 7-1 with the win.
Staff Photo/Kevin Sjoberg
INSIDE PRESENCE — Sophomore Alexa Massey of the Vikings shoots the ball over Hermon’s Ashley Thayer in Saturday’s contest.
