By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports reporter
With a trip to the new Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on the line, local teams had mixed results in preliminary playoff basketball games held last week. The biggest shocker of them all took place in Washburn last Wednesday, as the No. 1 Beavers were derailed by No. 16 Jonesport-Beals, 66-63, in Washburn.
The Beavers, who had entered the game at 15-3 with the only losses coming to No. 2 Easton (twice) and No. 3 Hodgdon, had led by eight points after three periods but could not hold on. Cole Beal drained five three-pointers en route to a 30-point night to lead the Royals, who had been upset by Easton in the as the No. 1 team.
Cameron Bragg tallied 19 points and Jarrett Olson had 14 for Washburn.
The second-seeded Bears avoided an upset bid themselves. Schenck of East Millinocket led by two points at the half, but Easton found its game over the final 16 minutes in a 57-42 triumph over the No. 15 Wolverines. Easton featured a balanced offense, with Hunter Turner and Cody Halvorson scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the winners into the quarterfinals.
Logan Craig, Robbie Watson and Hunter Beaulieu combined for 51 of Fort’s 65 points as No. 11 Fort Fairfield upended No. 6 Machias on the road, 65-48. Craig had 18, Watson 17 and Beaulieu 16 in the win as the Tigers improved to 8-11.
Central Aroostook, at No. 12, gave fifth-ranked Southern Aroostook all it wanted into the fourth quarter before the Warriors prevailed, 63-44.
In Class B, Presque Isle’s season came to an end with a 47-30 loss at Hermon. The No. 9-ranked Wildcats trailed 25-20 at intermission in the road contest, but went five of 20 from the field over the final 16 minutes and couldn’t contain the Hawks’ senior guard Tyler Thayer, who scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds and four steals.
PI’s Drew Bates and Brad Shields closed out their Wildcat careers as the team’s leading scorers with six points each.
In the girls’ prelims last Tuesday, No. 4 Washburn was most impressive as they thrashed No. 13 Shead of Eastport, 87-35. Mackenzie Worcester poured in 35 points and notched eight steals, while Carmen Bragg had 23 points in the win.
The No. 3 Fort Fairfield Tigers also had an easy time of it, besting No. 14 Katahdin at home, 64-38. Taylor Churchill scored 13 points, Logan Bubar chipped in with 12, Janae Libby totaled nine and Whitney McNamee and Nicole Giberson added eight each for FF.
The Ashland girls, ranked 12th, were unable to keep up with host Machias in their prelim matchup. The Hornets succumbed to the fifth-seeded Bulldogs, 56-40, and saw their season come to a halt. Tate Dolley’s 15 points and nine rebounds paced Machias, which improved to 17-1. Laura Sturgeon scored 12 points and Cassidy Pelletier netted 11 more for Ashland, which ended with a 6-13 overall record.
In Millinocket, No. 9 Easton fell by a 51-35 score to No. 8 Stearns. The Minutemen outscored the Bears by a 14-7 margin to open up what was a close game at intermission. Kalie Ward scored 12 points, Mariah Cyr had 10 and Hannah Ferris nine for 13-6 Easton.
