By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
It wasn’t supposed to be quite this easy for the Presque Isle girls’ varsity basketball team, but despite losing four of five starters from last year’s squad and having just four players back from that state championship roster, all the Wildcats do is keep winning.
PI struggled to put away Ellsworth Friday, but came out on top, 57-53. The following afternoon, the Wildcats overcame a nine-point deficit after one period and beat Mount Desert Island, 65-50.
The win was the second this year over MDI, whose only two losses have come at the hands of Presque Isle. The Trojans have won their 13 outings by an average margin of 32 points per game.
In the bigger picture, the Wildcats have now won 60 straight games, including both the regular and post-season. That streak began at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. With the two weekend victories, they have now finished undefeated on their home floor for the sixth consecutive season, with that streak currently at 55 games.
“We take a lot of pride in winning at home and knew MDI would give us a huge test, but as has been the case for a long time now, we rose to the occasion,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson.
PI is atop the Eastern Maine Class B Heal Point rankings with their 16-0 mark and victories in the final two games (at John Bapst Saturday and at Caribou Feb. 6) will guarantee a No. 1 seeding heading into the playoffs.
Hudson called the victory over MDI “a great team win.”
“We got key contributions from lots of kids and showed the physical and mental toughness needed to win a big game,” he said. “We knew we needed to limit our turnovers, stop their running game and get the ball inside and that is exactly what we did.”
He added that MDI got out to the big lead by “making a lot of shots early and we missed some layups, but we never quit. We just kept working hard and wore them down.”
Junior forward Krystal Kingsbury led all scorers with 16 points. Sophomore guard Taylor Williams tallied 15 and junior guard Hannah Graham netted 13 more.
Hannah Shaw, the Trojans’ 1,000-point scorer and the reigning co-Big East Conference player of the year, fouled out in the fourth quarter and was limited to eight points. Kelsey Shaw led MDI with 12 points.
In the win over Ellsworth the previous evening, Kingsbury scored 17, Williams 15 and Regan Nelson 14 as PI jumped out to a 14-point lead after the first quarter and survived down the stretch for the four-point win.
“I am really proud of this team and what they have accomplished thus far, but we have a lot of work to do,” Hudson said. “No question we have exceeded lots of other people’s expectations, but we believe a lot in ourselves and know we are certainly capable of even more.”
The Presque Isle boys are now 7-7 and in 10th place in EM Class B. The team was able to get past the Trojans at home Saturday, 51-49, thanks to Karson Eaton’s tie-breaking layup following his own offensive rebound with .7 seconds left in regulation.
PI was thoroughly beaten by Ellsworth a night earlier, 68-53, but recovered nicely against a talented MDI team.
“We kept our turnovers to a minimum and received huge individual performances from seniors Cody Lyford, Brad Shields and Eaton to come out on top,” said Wildcat coach Terry Cummings.
Lyford played what Wildcat Cummings feels was his best game of the season by scoring 15 points, making some nifty passes that led to easy hoops and nailing a three-pointer in the fourth quarter that tied the game.
“Plus he was outstanding on defense, as he always is,” said the coach.
Shields had 10 points, numerous rebounds and follow-up slam dunk “that was highlight film material and really got the crowd into it,” according to Cummings.
Eaton scored 20 points and “did a great job taking care of the ball and running things out front,” added the coach.
Following an 0-3 start, the Wildcats have now put themselves in solid playoff contention after sweeping MDI and also owning a win over highly-regarded Old Town.
“We are gaining confidence now and I’m extremely proud of the way our guys have stuck with it,” Cumming said.
Drew Bates netted 20 points in the loss to Ellsworth. The Eagles went up early, 18-4, and never were threatened from that point on.
Presque Isle hosts undefeated Class C Houlton tonight and closes out the regular season with a home game against Fort Kent and road contests at John Bapst and Caribou.
In Class D action, it appears the Washburn girls are putting things together after a Jan. 7 loss at Fort Fairfield sent the three-time state champions’ record to 5-2. Since that game, they had won seven consecutive games heading into a contest at Southern Aroostook Tuesday and a home tilt against the aforementioned Tigers tonight.
Mackenzie Worcester returned to the lineup in early-January after missing the first five games with a broken hand and has helped shore up the team’s fast-paced attack.
“[Her return] has allowed us to continue to pressure teams and play an up-tempo game more so than we did early in the season,” said second-year coach Diana Trams. “Unfortunately we lost a couple of key games early in the season, but our long-term goal is to end the regular season strong and be pressing effectively and getting out on our fast break.”
Washburn beat Hodgdon, Ashland and Wisdom, all on the road last week, by an average margin of 42 points. Worcester had 24 and Carsyn Koch 11 in the victory at Ashland, while Worcester had 22 and Grace Braley eight to lead the charge against the Hawks.
Washburn is now up to sixth place in the division with its 12-2 mark.
The Beaver boys are also red hot. The team was tested in a 68-66 home win Saturday over Central Aroostook, but had won eight in a row entering a home game Tuesday against the Ashland Hornets. The streak had put Washburn atop the EM Class D standings heading into play Tuesday.
Reserves Alex Pelletier and Noah Farley had key roles in the win over CA by scoring 13 and nine points, respectively. Cameron Bragg totaled 13 points and Jarrett Olson tossed in 10 as part of a balanced attack.
Chandler Brewer of the Panthers, who has missed several games due to injury, turned in his best offensive performance of the season with 29 points. He was 12 of 13 from the foul line. His jump shot from 15 feet away at the buzzer was off the mark and would have sent the game into overtime.
Still, the Panthers have plenty of points left on their schedule with games against Easton, Fort Kent, Washburn and Katahdin remaining. The defending EM champs are currently in 10th place with their 6-8 record.
The Bears had a quiet week, with their only game a 63-49 win at Ashland Friday, but remain unbeaten at 14-0, also with four to play. The team sits in second place behind Washburn and just ahead of Hodgdon.
Fort Fairfield, 5-8 and in ninth place, had lost six of its last seven heading into a big game at Hodgdon Tuesday. Ashland is 5-9 and holds onto the No. 16 and final post-season spot.
Back to ‘D’ girls, Fort Fairfield is coming off an easy 50-31 home victory over Ashland Monday and is now 10-4 and in third place in the latest rankings. Easton, at 11-4 heading into a key game Tuesday at home against Greater Houlton Christian Academy, beat Katahdin in its only game last week.
Ashland, at 4-12 under first-year coach Whitney Flint, holds on to the No. 15 position despite having lost five of its last six games. Central Aroostook is 2-11, in 21st place and in need of a couple big wins to get into post-season contention. The Panthers have dropped nine of their last 10 contests.
