Sixteen Aroostook County youth will travel to Portland Sunday to test their basketball skills against other youth from across Maine as they participate in the state finals of the Maine Recreation and Park Association/Red Claws Hot Shot Basketball Program.
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Rachael Soucy of Caribou was the champion in the girls’ 9-10 division of the Hotshot regional.
The Hot Shot Program is a skills competition that measures a participant’s ball handling and shooting skills in three one-minute rounds. Each participant has three one-minute opportunities to demonstrate their shooting skills from five designated hot spots on the court. They score points from each spot, however, they can lose points for poor ball handling skills such as traveling or double dribble.
The Caribou Parks and Recreation Department hosted the Northern Regional finals Feb. 17 and this year 145 boys and girls ages 9-18 registered to participate.
Winners traveling to Portland include: 9-10 boys, Evan Desmond and Dawson Hebert of Caribou; 9-10 girls, Rachael Soucy of Caribou and Cassidy Pelletier of Ashland; 11-12 boys, Donovan Savage of Caribou and Cullen Helgeson of Madawaska; 11-12 girls, Kaylee Carter of Easton and Alexis Levesque of Mars Hill; 13-15 boys, Matt Curry of Caribou and Jared Hafford of Easton; 13-15 girls, Taylor Brown and Abbey Poole of Easton; 16-18 boys, Josh Forsman of Limestone and Andrew Legassie of Presque Isle; and 16-18 girls, Meghan Frank and Danielle Dudley of Easton.
All winners and runners-up will be shooting at the Portland Expo, home of the Maine Red Claws basketball team on Sunday, March 7. Following the competition, they will be the guests of the Red Claws and be acknowledged during the Red Claws game Sunday evening.
The Maine Recreation and Park Association and the Northern Maine Community Recreation Association are excited to see so many Maine youth staying active and participating in this event and look forward to increased participation and partnerships in the future.
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Limestone’s Josh Forsman won the 16-18 age group at the MRPA regional Hotshot finals held in Caribou Feb. 17.
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Caribou’s Donovan Savage was the winner of the boys’ 11-12 division at the Hotshot regional event.
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Matt Curry of Caribou took the 13-15 boys division.
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Evan Desmond, left, and Dawson Hebert placed first and second in the regional Hotshot competition and are advancing to the state championship this Sunday.
