Beavers’ Worcester scores 2,000th point of career
The Caribou boys’ varsity basketball team made a huge statement over the weekend when it defeated Ellsworth Friday and followed that up with an impressive victory Saturday over Mount Desert Island, the No. 2 team in Eastern Maine Class B.
Both were road games and Viking coach Chris Casavant came away impressed with his team’s performance.
“I thought we played really well at times against Ellsworth,” he said, “and with MDI, we defended extremely well against a team that is a very tough matchup for us.”
Caribou boosted itself up to sixth place in the standings with the victories.
Dayne Savage scored a career-best 34 points in the 59-45 victory over the Eagles, a game in which Caribou led by 25 at one point.
“We got off to a great start and we shot well and defended well for the most part,” Casavant said. “It was a huge step toward what happened the next day.”
Against MDI, the Vikes executed its defensive game plan to near perfection and again used a good start to propel them to the 49-46 win. Savage scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half. Cody Herbert and Matt Milliard added 12 and eight, respectively, and also played some gritty defense. Milliard held Ben Walls, who came in averaging over 17 points per game, to just 13.
“Matt loves being our lockdown defender … he takes pride in that role,” Casavant said.
The road doesn’t get a lot easier for Caribou, which next hosts Fort Kent Thursday before making a trip to Hermon to take on the 7-7 Hawks. The following week, the Vikes host a pair of No. 1 teams — Class C Houlton Feb. 5 and Class B Presque Isle Feb. 8 — to close out the regular season.
“We have a tough task facing us, but we’re definitely starting to play well,” Casavant said. “Over the last few weeks, we had a bad first half against Houlton and a bad second half against Presque Isle, but besides that we’ve been good.
“We’re shooting well, playing good team defense and are getting contributions from a lot of different guys,” he added.
The Caribou girls are still in the playoff hunt despite a pair of weekend losses. The Vikings are at 3-12 and in 13th place, with only the top 13 teams qualifying for the post-season. Games against Hermon, Houlton and Presque Isle remain on the team’s schedule.
Last Tuesday, Washburn senior Mitchell Worcester joined an elite group of high school basketball players when he scored the 2,000-point of his career in a 69-61 win at Fort Fairfield.
Worcester hit the milestone during the second quarter with his 19th point of the game. It put him in select company in Maine basketball history. He joins Julie Bradstreet of Central Aroostook, Matt Rossignol of Van Buren and Matt Oliver of Hodgdon as the only players from Aroostook County to score at least 2,000 points in a career. Ray Alley of Vinalhaven and Cindy Blodgett of Lawrence are among the estimated 11 others who have reached the mark.
Washburn counts regular season and post-season games as well as the team’s participation in the annual pre-season tournament, whose inclusion dates back to a period when Washburn played just 16 regular season games instead of the maximum of 18 allowed by the Maine Principals’ Association.
Fort Fairfield coach Todd Alley has faced off against Worcester numerous times over the years and said it is his work ethic that has taken him to what he has accomplished.
“He has always been able to shoot outside, but he has worked on becoming stronger and has added an inside game that has put him to the next level,” Alley said. “It’s been impressive to watch, but that’s how elite players become elite … by putting in the time.”
“He’s a great kid, but has killed me especially in games at Fort Fairfield so I’m glad he’s done playing here,” he said with a laugh.
Worcester’s own coach, Randy Norsworthy, said his star player has been able to achieve individual records while still putting his team first, as evidenced by the 13-0 record the Beavers held heading into last night’s game against Ashland.
“Mitch is a great young man and has developed a great perspective,” Norsworthy said. “He truly has a humble attitude about all he has accomplished and always thinks of others first. He has told me many times that team success is more important than any records he has set.
“He is focused to make the most of this young team and help them be the best they can be the remainder of the regular season and looking forward to the post-season.”
Worcester ended up with 39 points in the victory over the Tigers and then tallied 25 more Saturday as his team knocked off Central Aroostook in Mars Hill, 54-52.
Norsworthy said his team’s defensive effort was the key against the Panthers.
“The game stayed close the whole way, but I really liked the way that we played our halfcourt man-to-man defense in this one,” he said.
Washburn has accomplished what it has despite a couple key players missing some time due to injuries. Freshman Jarret Olsen is now back after suffering a broken right foot which sidelined him for approximately a month. Norsworthy said sophomore guard Cameron Bragg, the team’s second-leading scorer, has a doctor’s visit on Feb. 5 to see if he’ll be cleared to play after having missed multiple games with an arm injury.
“Guys like [freshman guard] Noah Caron have stepped in … he’s scoring and taking care of the ball quite well and has been a pleasant surprise,” Norsworthy said. “Cameron Preston and Kenny Irving, both sophomores, are beginning to play their roles well.”
Derrick Baker nailed three three-point field goals to complement Worcester’s performance against the Tigers. Caron had nine points against FF and added eight against CA.
Andrew Lewis scored 25 for the Tigers last Tuesday in a game that stayed close into the fourth quarter.
Washburn climbed up to third place in the Eastern Maine Class D standings, just behind Central Aroostook. Defending Class D state champion Jonesport-Beals now leads the way with its 13-0 record. Fort Fairfield is 10th and Limestone-MSSM is 12th. The regular season ends Feb. 8. The top-15 teams qualify for the post-season.
The Beaver girls improved their record to 14-0 and remain atop the ‘D’ rankings following Monday’s 100-36 thrashing of Southern Aroostook in a game played in Dyer Brook.
Five Washburn players reached double figures in scoring. Mackenzie Worcester had 24 points, Carmen Bragg 20, Joan Overman 15, Nicole Olson 12 and Carsyn Koch 11.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers continued their impressive campaign with Monday’s 67-36 triumph at Madawaska. Senior Sydney Churchill drained eight three-point field goals en route to a career-best 28 points. Whitney McNamee added 12 points for FF, which improved to 12-3 and is now ranked fifth in the division.
“I really like the makeup of our team,” said coach Larry Gardner. “They have been very unselfish and hard working … they have already exceeded many peoples’ expectations and we are starting to find our identity.”
Limestone-MSSM is in 12th place heading into tonight’s key game at home against Fort Kent, the No. 6 team in EM Class C.
