A Shootout in the County
We've got a 50 spot
In the Game of the Day, Cony used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to erase a 3-point deficit and hold on against Mt. Ararat for a big Heal Point win.
Mike MandellKennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel
How big? The win takes the Rams past Lawrence and into first place in A North, with the caveat that they've played 2 more games than the Bulldogs. But, still.
Abby Morrill had 22 points and Morgan Fichthorn chipped in with a double-double (12 & 11) as the defending A North champs made a statement. Kayleigh Wagg had 16 in the loss and the Eagles.
Cony also moved up to 10th in the Power Rankings.
Lucas McNelly
The Ellsworth boys saw MDI erase a 15-point deficit, but the Eagles responded, out-scoring the Trojans 7-1 over the final 2 minutes and change. Four of those points came from Hollis Grindal free throws to put the game away and move Ellsworth to 7-1.
Ryan McLaughlin has a write-up.
Up in the County, we had a good, old fashioned shootout last night between Fort Kent and Central Aroostook.
Fort Kent's Aden Jeffers, who seems to be in the newsletter after every game with some heady numbers, led the way with 32 points. But that was nothing compared to Jalheel Joseph who went off for FIFTY ONE POINTS. 51!
In the end, Fort Kent prevailed, 78-70 to move into second in C North.
If you're interested, you can watch the full broadcast on WHOU.
Over in C North, the Penobscot Valley boys out-lasted Penquis 50-46 in one of the lower-scoring 4 overtime games you'll ever see. Yes, I said 4 overtimes.
You've got to see this shot by Penquis' Brenan Grant to send it to the 4th OT.
Elsewhere:
Levi Laverdiere had 18 as Monmouth beat OOB...Grant Thomas had 20 as Ashland won their first game of the year...Lily Oliver (20) and Fort Kent handed Central Aroostook their first loss of the year...Madison used a 21-3 second quarter to overcome a slow start against Oak Hill. Ava Landry led the way with 13...Tessa Ferguson's 24 led OOB to a win over Monmouth.
How's this for a dunk?
Friday Night Fast Break coming up here shortly! Catch me, @Jackiemoon_25 and Doug Banks, plus highlights like this incredible lob from Brayden King to Kyle Kenny and more at roughly 10:40 on FOX 22 @FoxABCMaine #mesports pic.twitter.com/YkuosgzFyv
— Tyler Krusz (@TylerKruszTV) January 4, 2025
Preach.
If you want to feel good about yourself play pickleball. If you want to challenge yourself play a real sport.
— Vernon Maxwell (@VernonMaxwell11) January 3, 2025
There's a lot of discourse about the Windham boys--and for a very good reason--but the Windham girls have quietly worked their way into the top 25 with a record of 4-3, thanks in part to a brutal schedule.
That's the 3rd hardest schedule in the state, behind Bonny Eagle and Oxford Hills, and they've held serve, only losing to #1 Oxford Hills by 4 on the road, beating #4 Edward Little on the road, and then knocking off #12 Gorham on Thursday. The schedule never really gets easy in AA, but it lets up a tiny bit. And then they've got to play Cheverus and Oxford Hills back-to-back again in late January.
They'll host a Bangor team riding high after a win over Oxford Hills on Thursday where the Rams almost let a 13-point lead slip away.
Larry Mahoney
Bangor is 5-3 with losses to #1 Oxford Hills, #2 Cheverus, and #4 Edward Little and have only 1 game left against a team currently in the top 20 (Edward Little on January 31st), so if they can get a win here, they could potentially go on a pretty nice
Whoever wins this game will need to get hot in order to get into the top 3 in AA North, so it's not hard to imagine this could be a preview of the 4/5 quarterfinal.
If so, this might be a nice quarterfinal come February.
The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.