Washburn junior varsity boys basketball team
has building year
Sports Editor
WASHBURN — It was a season of ups and downs for the Washburn junior varsity boys basketball team under the guidance of coach Mike Hartford. The Beavers started hot, but struggled the rest of the way, finishing the year with a 3-14 record.
Washburn started its season with 11 players —senior John Helton; juniors Phillip Helton and Kyle Huston; sophomores Kyle McLaughlin, Anothony Viola, Jeremy Hartsgrove, Zach Davis; and freshmen Nick Bragg, Mikey Forand, Andrew McLaughlin and Justin Farley.
“Our season began with a 48-45 win over Presque Isle’s JVII team at home,” coach Hartford said. “It looked like we might have a promising season.”
Forand played just one game with the Beavers before suffering a broken foot that forced him to miss the remainder of the season. The Beavers also lost two additional players due to academic ineligibility for three weeks.
“We lost the next five games by an average of 20 points a game over that span and those players returned to play in a 28-point loss to Southern Aroostook on Dec. 29,” the coach said.
Bragg was then called up to the varsity squad fulltime, further affecting the team’s depth.
The losing streak reached 11 games, but the Beavers did finish 2-3 in their final five games.
“Our Jan. 28 home game versus Limestone was a huge turning point,” the coach said. “We had lost in Limestone on Jan. 6, 59-26 and had an injury and foul trouble throughout that contest. We won 36-33 after trailing 21-16 at the half.”
Two nights later, the Beavers hosted Central Aroostook and won, 46-33.
Washburn was unable to keep that momentum going against Fort Fairfield Feb. 1. After trailing by only one point at the half, the Tigers roared to a 14-point lead by the end of the third period en route to the 43-40 victory.
Davis led Washburn team in scoring with a career-best 21 points in the loss.
The next night, Washburn traveled to Van Buren and lost for the second time this season to the Crusaders, 59-33.
The Beavers finished their season with a close loss at Fort Fairfield Feb. 4.
“We had improved significantly since early in the season and started playing better defense which led to some competitive games down the stretch,” Hartford said.
Huston led the team in scoring with 11 points per game, while center Davis added 8.5 per game and guard Kyle McLaughlin contributed six points per game. Huston topped 10 points in 10 of 17 games on the season with one game scoring more than 20 points.
“It was nice to see the team turn around and start playing better at the end of the season,” Hartford said. “It was sad to see it end. I only wish they had played up to their potential earlier in the season.”
WASHBURN JV BOYS – Members of the Washburn junior varsity boys basketball team include, front row from left, Kyle McLaughlin, Kyle Huston, Jeremy Hartsgrove, John Helton and Anthony Viola; and back, Phillip Helton, Justin Farley, Zach Davis, Andrew McLaughlin, Nick Bragg and coach Mike Hartford. Not pictured is Mikey Forand.
