FF boys move to 4-0 under McLaughlin by topping Easton
Strong starts to the season have been recorded by a number of local teams, including the Fort Fairfield and Washburn boys and girls, the Easton girls and the Presque Isle girls, all who are undefeated so far.
Summaries of games played through Monday are as follows:
Katahdin boys 61, Ashland 52 — Despite Cody Blair’s 27 points, Ashland couldn’t keep up with the Katahdin Cougars at home Monday.
Michael Cook and Kyle Soetaert-Beaulier had 10 and seven points, respectively, for the Hornets, while Nick Lane’s 25 points powered the victorious Cougars.
Fort Fairfield boys 52, Easton 41 — The Tigers used strong defense and rebounding to get past the Bears Monday in Fort Fairfield. Chris Giberson had 17 rebounds and Caleb Daigle 10 to help hold off the Bears. Robbie Watson paced the winning offense with 13 points and Hunter Beaulieu added 11.
“This was a very big confidence booster for our team,” said first-year Tiger coach Logan McLaughlin, whose team is off to a 4-0 start. “I think they finally realized their potential and hopefully will keep building off it.”
McLaughlin said his team’s ability to put pressure on Easton the entire length of the floor and disrupt their offense was the key to the win.
Logan Halvorson led Easton with 16 points, including four three-pointers, while Nick Clark added 10.
Fort Kent boys 64, Central Aroostook 44 — On Monday in Fort Kent, a balanced scoring attack led the Warriors over the Panthers.
Brandon Theriault paced Fort Kent with 15 points while Ryan Chasse and Matt Daigle each added 14.
Dustin Pryor sparked the Panthers with 14 points and Cameron Todd added eight.
Washburn boys 103, Madawaska 41 — At Washburn Monday, the Beavers raced out to a 31-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back in reaching triple digits in scoring against the Owls.
Washburn, who improved to 3-0, used a balanced-scoring attack and were led by Cameron Bragg with 18 points, Noah Caron and Alex Pelletier with 16 apiece and Jarrett Olson with 14.
Madawaska was paced by Cedric Gendreau’s 20 points.
Fort Kent girls 51, Central Aroostook 50 — Freshman Cassidy Lovely scored a team-high 13 points, including the game-winning basket with three seconds left in regulation, to help the Warriors defeat Central Aroostook in Fort Kent Monday.
The Panthers’ Karli Levesque led all scorers with 19 points and Molly Anthony added 14.
Washburn girls 84, Madawaska 44 — At Washburn Monday, senior Joan Overman led the way for the Beavers with 16 points in the victory over the Owls. Grace Braley and Laina Mette tossed in 13 points apiece for Washburn, while Mackenzie Worcester tallied 12 points and Emmy Churchill added 11.
For Madawaska, Alexis Levesque had a game-high 18 points.
Presque Isle girls 74, Old Town 43 — At Old Town Saturday, Hannah Graham led all scorers with 22 points to propel the Wildcats to victory over the Coyotes.
Graham connected on four first-quarter three-point field goals to give PI the early lead.
Krystal Kingsbury added 18 points and Taylor Williams had eight.
“I thought Hannah and Krystal have come out strong and led the way with their hustle and confidence in both games,” said Wildcat coach Jeff Hudson.
“We are still trying to find the right rotations and our execution is not where it needs to be, but we will get better,” he added.
Lauren Martin led Old Town with 20 points.
Old Town boys 74, Presque Isle 43 — The defending Class B state champions bolted to a 28-8 lead after the first quarter in the rout over Presque Isle Saturday.
Freshman Griffin Guerrette came off the bench and led PI in scoring with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Senior Ben Buckley contributed 11 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field and gathered in eight rebounds.
“We really showed our inexperience as we had way too many turnovers and found ourselves down early. We settled down a little in the second quarter and did some good things and in the second half, it was pretty even,” said PI coach Terry Cummings.
“I can see our younger players getting stronger and more confident each and every practice. Our veterans will step it up and have some big games as they get more experience in key situations,” he added.
Easton boys 71, Ashland 40 — At Easton Friday, the Bears held a mere four-point lead at the half but went on a 20-7 run to open the second half en route to the win over Ashland. Sophomore forward Jake Flewelling poured in a game and career-high 37 points for the winners, while Drew Sotomayor contributed 14 points.
Cook and Aaron Sturgeon led the way for Ashland with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Central Aroostook boys 53, Limestone-MSSM 27 — The Panthers outscored the Eagles, 27-11, in the first half Friday, giving them an early-season road victory while handing the Eagles a third straight loss.
Pryor tossed in 19 points and Riley McGrath chipped in 14 to pace the Panthers offense.
Kupiec lead the Eagles with six points.
Central Aroostook girls 54, Limestone-MSSM 37 — At Limestone, freshman Kassie Levesque scored 20 points and older sister Karli added 15 to lead Central Aroostook to victory. Kelsey Dominique netted 10 points for the Panthers.
Ellyzabeth Bencivenga paced the Eagles with 12 points.
Easton girls 61, Ashland 28 —Taylor Brown led Easton’s balanced-attack with nine points in the win over the Hornets Friday. Madison Leach and Elise Allen each had eight points while Kylee Carter added seven points for the Bears.
Sophie Theriault scored 12 points and Hannah Stratton chipped in with seven for the Hornets.
Fort Fairfield girls 75, Southern Aroostook 25 — At Fort Fairfield Friday, the Tigers jumped to an early 28-3 first-quarter lead and pulled away for their second win of the season. Teresa Maynard scored 20 of her game and career-high 24 points in the first half for the winners.
Chelsey Pelkey added 17 points while Sadie Edgecomb contributed eight more.
For Southern Aroostook, Kennedi Smith scored all 13 of her points in the second quarter, including three three-pointers, to lead SACS.
Washburn girls 61, Van Buren 29 — Worcester scored 18 points and had seven assists to lift Washburn to victory over the Crusaders Friday.
Overman added 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Beavers, while Churchill chipped in with nine points.
Felisha Bouchard played a solid game with 15 points while contributing seven blocks and seven rebounds for the Crusaders.
Fort Fairfield boys 60, Hodgdon 34 — The visiting Tigers outscored the Hawks in the third quarter by a 20-6 margin to pull away for the victory Thursday.
Chris Giberson had a game-high 16 points for Fort Fairfield, while Johnny Theriault netted 15 points and Isaac Cyr added 10.
Hodgdon was led by Devin Quint with nine points.
Washburn boys 76, Hodgdon 31 — Last Tuesday at Washburn, the Beavers raced out to a 24-4 first-quarter lead behind seniors Kenny Irving and Bragg en route to the win. Irving scored nine and Bragg seven in the period.
Bragg finished with 17 points, while Olson poured in 13 and Pelletier added 12 points off the bench.
Hodgdon was led by Daden Palmer and Jimmy Buzzell with nine points apiece.
Presque Isle girls 59, Houlton 47 — At Houlton last Tuesday, Presque Isle started strong, hitting six three-pointers in the first quarter to take an early lead en route to the victory over the Shiretowners in a mutual opener.
Sophomore Emily Lagerstrom paced Presque Isle with 18 points, including six three-pointers. She had four threes in the first quarter alone. Kingsbury chipped in with 15 points to lead PI’s inside production while Graham added 11 points and Taylor Williams eight.
Katie Condon recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Houlton. Kolleen Bouchard contributed 12 points and seven rebounds and Rylee Warman added 11 points.
