Caribou falls to Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield stays consistent

    Fans from all over packed the seats in Presque Isle last Wednesday night as both Caribou and P.I. teams prepared to go head-to-head in the first of two season games.     Though the Lady Vikings walked away from an intense 39-31 loss to the Lady Wildcats the night before, the boys varsity team was ready to meet their archrival.
    Caribou seemed to have a dominating hold on the fast-paced game initially, beating P.I. to the ball time and again in the first five minutes of the first quarter. But once the Wildcats started scoring, the Vikings began playing a game of catch up.
    At the end of the first quarter, P.I. had 15 and Caribou only 6. Though the Vikings answered back with 9 more points in the second quarter, P.I. had moved on to 27. Caribou remained consistent throughout the evening, but was unable to find crucial moments to breakaway from Presque Isle.
    Pictured at right is Wildcat Nate Ackerson, going up for the shot. He was denied by Viking senior Sam Roberston. Though Caribou came out strong in the beginning with turnovers, their offense was slow to start, costing the Vikings a 57-39 loss to Presque Isle.
    The Caribou boys and girls basketball teams split their games against Mattanawcook later in the week. The Vikings recovered from Wednesday’s game with a 48-39 win, but the Lady Vikings lost 57-23.
    At Mars Hill, the Fort Fairfield Tigers continued their winning streak last week over the Central Aroostook Panthers, last year’s Eastern Maine champions, with a 55-39 victory. Fort Fairfield jumped out early, with a 14 point lead by the end of the first quarter.
    At half time, it seemed like the Panthers might have a chance at coming back, but the Tigers leapt even farther ahead in the third quarter, broadening the distance between the two teams by twenty points. Leading the court for the Tigers were Josh Booth and Austin Dufour with 13 points. Matt Cresenzo contributed 10 more, and Manny Martinez scored a game-high 14 points for Central Aroostook.
    Later in the week, the Tigers went up against the Limestone/MSSM Eagles, adding another win with the final score 59-37.
    The Lady Tigers had a quiet week, with their only game last Wednesday in Van Buren. Fort Fairfield dominated the entire game, keeping Van Buren under 30 with a final 75-27 blowout. For the Tigers, Amanda Hotham had a 21 point game for the Tigers and teammate Whitney Clark put 18 away as well.
    The Lady Eagles of Limestone/MSSM played a strong game against the Lady Bears of Easton, overtaking them in a final 54-21 win.
    Due to inclement weather earlier in the week, all of Monday evening’s games were postponed and rescheduled for later dates in the season.