Ashland, Easton teams take finales
Girls basketball
Sports Editor
The regular season is now a fond memory for girls basketball teams and for six local squads, the postseason has become a reality.
Presque Isle, Caribou, Central Aroostook, Fort Fairfield, Ashland and Washburn squads all qualified for the playoffs, while Easton and Limestone-MSSM will have to wait until next season to reverse their fortunes.
In Eastern Class D, Central Aroostook (16-2, 111.7284 Heal Points), by virtue of its win over Fort Fairfield in the regular season, secured the No. 1 seed in the 20-team region. Fort Fairfield (17-1, 90.0508) finished second, while Washburn (13-5, 65.5229) was fourth; Ashland (8-10, 30.5919) was ninth; Easton (7-11, 25.9168) was 11th; and Limestone-MSSM (3-15, 7.0352) was 16th.
Easton came so very close to qualifying for the postseason, falling a mere 1.398 points shy of the 10th and final spot in Eastern Class D.
Central Aroostook, Washburn and Fort Fairfield earned first-round byes and will play at the Bangor Auditorium in the quarterfinal round. Ashland must win a preliminary playoff in order to make it to Bangor.
In Eastern Class B, Presque Isle (17-1, 143.5185 Heal points) finished first, while Caribou (8-10, 58.8704) was ninth.
The following is a recap of the final regular season games.
Ashland 36, Limestone-MSSM 33 (OT) — At Limestone Friday, a depleted Hornets roster needed overtime to beat the Eagles.
Ashland led 7-2, 13-8 and 25-21 at the quarter breaks before Limestone-MSSM rallied to tie the game at 33-33 at the end of regulation.
Adrianna Paradis led Ashland with 11 points, while Taylor Baker had eight; Whitney Donovan, seven; Rylee Graham, six; and Brooke LaBelle and Kayla Cote, each had two.
For the Eagles, Victoria St. Pierre finished with nine points, while Jasmine Cote and Amanda Allen each had eight; Chelsea Leighton, three; Caitlin Good and Stephanie Leighton, each had two; and Savanna Gray, one.
“We were missing three of our key players, all three seniors,” Ashland coach Kevin Paradis said. “Juniors Rylee Graham and Whitney Donovan stepped up and both played great games. Rylee pulled down a team high 12 rebounds to go along with her six points. Whitney hit a couple key outside shots that helped to extend their zone defense.”
The coach added Baker made the biggest improvement in her game.
“She is really learning how to be effective in the low post,” he said. “She did not do a lot of scoring, but changes the defense. Her play in the playoffs is the key to our success. Both Anna and Brooke played solid as usual. I’ve challenged Anna to expand her game to do more driving. It is really starting to click with her. She also did a great job getting Taylor the ball into the low post.”
Easton 45, Wisdom 23 — At Easton Thursday, Carla Halvorson netted 14 points as Easton won its final game of the regular season and came so close to qualifying for the postseason. Brooke Hammond added 13 points for the Bears, while Ariana Babineau and Katie Cyr each had four; Taylor Burtt and Sydney Trask, each three; and Sarah Plourde and Abigail Poole, each two.
Kayla Guerrette had 12 points for Wisdom.
So. Aroostook 71, Ashland 41 — At Ashland Wednesday, the Hornets played in their home gym for the final time, but the emotion was not enough to secure a win. Ashland will have a new high school gymnasium to play in next season.
Jasmine Rockwell scored a game-high 20 points as Southern Aroostook rolled to the lopsided win over Ashland. Liz Goodall added 19 points, while Evangeline Goodall chipped in 11 and Shelby Hartin nine.
For Ashland, Paradis led the way with nine points, while Baker had eight; Macie Pelkey, seven; LaBelle and Cote, both six; Jade Tilley, three; and Jessica Jimmo, two.
“This was senior night and the last girls game ever on the court,” coach Kevin Paradis said. “Our girls stepped up and played tough. We played them really tough in the first half. Liz Goodall got in early foul trouble. The game got quite lob sided in the fourth quarter when we were forced to go man-to-man”
Fort Fairfield 47, Washburn 34 — At Washburn Wednesday, Amanda Hotham led Fort Fairfield with 19 points, while Brooke Beaulieu scored 12; Courtney Churchill added nine and Danielle Tracy, seven. Becca Campbell led Washburn with eight points, while Rayah Saucier, Meghan Saucier and Jordan Chandler each had six; and Sarah Sjoberg, five.
The two teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter, but Fort Fairfield led 23-19 at halftime and 40-25 after three stanzas.
Central Aroostook 64, Easton 29 — At Easton Tuesday, Vicki McIntyre’s 22 points lifted Central Aroostook past Easton. Rachael Grew chipped in 21 points, including 3-pointers, while Brianna Hartin added six; Kristen Long and Chelsea Hartin, each had four; Olivia Garrison, three; and Kayla Cushman and Sarah Grass, each two.
Hammond and Trask each had eight points to key Easton, while Halvorson added seven; Babineau, four; and Plourde, two.
Central Aroostook led 30-6, 41-9, and 54-18 at the quarter breaks.
