Sports Reporter
PRESQUE ISLE – In front of a packed house at Presque Isle High School Thursday, a fast start for the Caribou Vikings was countered by a veteran Wildcat team who remained confident despite the early deficit.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Branden Holdsworth gets in good scoring position after securing an offensive rebound in the second half of Thursday’s game in Presque Isle. The Vikes were unable to hold an 11-0 lead and lost to the Wildcats, 59-40.
The result was a 59-40 victory in the final regular season game of the season for both teams. Presque Isle improved to 17-1, while Caribou fell to 12-6.
The Vikes seemed poised to spoil Senior Night at PIHS, getting off to an 11-0 start in the game’s first 5 minutes and 16 seconds.
Two-point field goals by Chris Nadeau, Ted Walker and Cameron Anderson began the rally, while a Matt Till three-pointer and a Nadeau layup off an Anderson feed followed to put the game in the Vikes’ early control.
“We were shooting well and not giving up any offensive rebounds,” said Caribou coach Chris Casavant of the quick start. “We were executing the game plan to perfection.”
Instead of allowing panic to set in, however, the Wildcats responded.
Presque Isle scored eight consecutive points to end the first quarter, culminating in Nate Ackerson’s runner that beat the buzzer.
“The way the quarter ended was a huge momentum change,” Casavant said. “We committed a turnover instead of getting an easy layup that could have made it 14-2, and then we had two more turnovers and they took advantage on the other end.”
Ackerson’s 12-foot jumper at the 3:55 mark of the second period gave PI its first lead (16-15), while teammate Dillon Kingsbury connected on a shot to beat the halftime buzzer to make it 22-15.
“We showed we’ve got some toughness and resiliency,” Ackerson said of the comeback. “Obviously, we don’t like to get down 11-0, but the good thing was we didn’t get down and we didn’t bicker with each other. We came together and played even harder to get back in the game.”
The lead grew to 47-23 at the end of three quarters before the Wildcats settled for the 19-point victory.
“They’ve got a lot of kids who have been through games like this,” Casavant said. “They played in and were successful in the tournament last year and the year before and have leaders who weren’t going to let them lose.
Contributed photo/beckysheaphoto
Chad Caverhill goes up for a fast-break layup during Caribou’s game against Houlton last Tuesday. The Vikings dominated the Shiretowners, 61-36.
“[After the tough start] they played awfully confident and awfully well.”
Kingsbury scored a game-high 16 points and handed out four assists to lead the offense, while Ackerson had 15 points and Travis Dyer netted 13. Ethan Braley scored just two points, but grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals.
Walker scored 10 points, while Till had nine, Nadeau tossed in eight and Anderson seven for the Vikes.
Last Tuesday, Caribou played in its Senior Night home game and downed visiting Houlton, 61-36.
The Vikings had outstanding scoring balance in a game that Casavant was able to substitute freely in throughout the fourth quarter.
Till tallied 13 points and Anderson scored 12, while Walker added nine and Evan Susee, who got the start along with fellow senior Jon Ouellette, tossed in seven to power Caribou. A total of 10 different players scored points for the Vikings.
Jordan Codrey and Ben Duff scored seven points each to lead Houlton.
