By Joseph Cyr
Sports Editor
The Washburn girls basketball team grabs the spotlight this week as one of its players joined an elite group of athletes. And with the season half over, the playoff picture is beginning to take shape for girls basketball teams.
Staff Photo/Joseph Cyr
IN THE PAINT — Fort Fairfield’s Brooke Beaulieu is surrounded by a swarm of Hawk defenders as she enters the paint during last Wednesday’s game in Hodgdon. FF won the game, 71-61.
The prognosis looks good for several Aroostook County squads, while others will have some work to do if they are to get back in the chase.
The regular season concludes Feb. 11, with preliminary playoffs set to begin Feb. 15 for schoolgirl squads (boys’ prelims are slated for Feb. 16). The quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium begin Friday, Feb. 18 for Class B teams and Saturday, Feb. 19 and for D squads.
As of Tuesday morning three of four girls squads in the newspaper’s coverage area were in a position to grab a playoff spot.
In Eastern Class B, Caribou (3-5, 16.8210) was eighth in the region and in strong position as the top 10 teams qualify for postseason action. Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (9-0, 29.7222) is the lone undefeated team in the region and is currently the top seed.
In Eastern Class D, Washburn (8-1, 26.0276) is the top-ranked team and Fort Fairfield (6-1, 12.8758) is fifth.
Limestone-MSSM (1-8, 3.8580) is 11th. The top 10 teams make the playoffs.
The following is a recap of games played through Monday.
Washburn 53, GHCA 20 — At Presque Isle Monday, Washburn’s Rebecca Campbell broke the 1,000-point scoring plateau as she sparked the Beavers to victory. She becomes just the fifth girl in the school’s history to score 1,000 points. Previous 1,000-point scorers were Glenda Fox, Dawn Oldmixon, Kim Richardson and Amy O’Donnell. Fox is the school’s all-time leading scorer for girls with 1,289 points.
“Rebecca has always been a great shooter and she has developed the rest of her game as each year has passed,” SAD 45 Athletic Director Ron Ericson said. “She has played on a tournament team every year that she has been in high school.”
Campbell needed nine points coming into the game and achieved that mark in the first quarter. She finished with 11 points on the night.
Rayah Saucier and Carmen Bragg each had eight for Washburn, while Meghan Saucier added seven.
Madawaska 36, Limestone-MSSM 22 — At Limestone Monday, Stephanie Leighton had seven points to pace the Eagles in the loss to Madawaska. Jordyn Hopkins chipped in five points; Danielle Pelkey and Savanna Gray each had four; and Kelsee Albert, two.
For Madawaska, Nicole Cyr had nine points.
Madawaska led 9-6, 24-7 and 32-17 at the quarter breaks.
Washburn 53, Ashland 23 — At Ashland Saturday, the visiting Beavers had no trouble with Ashland. The Beavers led 19-4, 29-9 and 44-11 at the quarter breaks.
For Washburn, Campbell netted 17 points, Bragg added 10; Sarah Sjoberg, seven; and R. Saucier and M. Saucier both had six.
Fort Fairfield 67, Limestone-MSSM 24 — At Fort Fairfield Saturday, Tiger Amanda Hotham netted a season-best 30 points and also added 15 rebounds to carry Fort Fairfield past the Eagles. Danielle Tracy added 15 points for Fort Fairfield, while Emily Blaisdell chipped in eight; Brooke Beaulieu, four; Kacie York, three; and Janae Libby, Logan Bubar and Kellyn McGillan, two each.
For Limestone-MSSM, Amanda Allen had nine points and Pelkey, six.
Fort Fairfield 71, Hodgdon 61 — At Hodgdon Wednesday, the Hawks gave Fort Fairfield a tough contest, but ultimately the Tigers prevailed. Fort Fairfield had to overcome a 48-44 deficit after three quarters by outscoring Hodgdon 27-13 in the final period.
Danielle Tracy led Fort Fairfield with 23 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the foul line. Hotham chipped in 22 points, followed by Beaulieu with 13; Sydney Churchill, 11; and Logan Bubar, two.
Fort Fairfield sank 18-of-21 foul shots (86 percent), while the Hawks mustered just two-of-five free throws (40 percent)
“I knew Hodgdon would play very well and would press us,” Fort Fairfield coach Larry Gardner said.
Fatigue was a bit of a factor for the Tigers in Wednesday’s game. Fort Fairfield used just one substitute for the entire contest.
“We haven’t played very much for the past two-and-a-half weeks and the girls are tired of practicing,” Gardner said. “We now have nine games in the next 17 days, so we’ll be busy.”
Fort Fairfield led 21-15 in the first quarter and nursed a 35-31 lead into the halftime break before Hodgdon outscored the Tigers 17-9 in the third stanza.
Washburn 56, Easton 37 — At Washburn Jan. 4, Campbell tallied 21 points to lift the Beavers past Easton. Bragg added 12, while Sjoberg had 10.
For Easton, Brooke Hammond tallied nine points.
Caribou 45, Houlton 40 — At Caribou Tuesday, Dayna Michaud and Selander each tallied 12 points to key the Vikings. Massey added 11; Rebecca McDougal, seven; and Jamie Martin, three.
For Houlton, Amanda Fogarty had a game-high 18 points, while Taylor Bailey added 10; Samantha Keegan, five; Marina Cameron, four; and Tori Hanson, three.
Houlton led 9-5 in the first quarter, but Caribou roared to a 22-14 halftime lead, which grew to 31-18 after three periods.
