Presque Isle gets best of storm, Broncos for road win> PI bus driver gets assist in Wildcats’ latest road victory

HAMPDEN – I don’t want to hear any more of these pro sports teams or big-time college teams talk about how tough it is to win on the road.

Not when their idea of a difficult road trip is flying coach rather than first class, and roughing it means there’s no free HBO on the color TV in the hotel room.

I saw a tough road win Saturday. Presque Isle High at Hampden Academy, boys basketball. Presque Isle clawed out a 65-59 victory after routinely handling conditions that, shall we say, would put your average pampered NBA outfit into shock.

You remember Saturday. While most of the state, including 99 percent of our other high school athletic teams, hunkered down in front of their MTV in the face of Big Snowstorm No. 2 of the new year, the Presque Isle boys and girls hoop teams were trundling slowly but steadily down I-95 in their yellow schoolbus en route to Hampden.

Now, before the terminally namby-pamby have a caniption over the thought of a bus full of high school kids actually being allowed to travel in such conditions, be advised of the following:

“It’s important to know any decision is made strongly with the safety of the kids in mind. It’s been thought through,” said ninth-year PI boys hoop coach Tim Prescott, noting the PI administration makes the call to travel or postpone and decided in this instance to go. “You have to remember, we’re used to snow. It’s not a big deal to us.”

Amen.

The rest of the state may have embraced the twin yuppie concepts that eight inches of snow in Maine in January automatically means life as we know it must grind to a halt, and that decisions to let our kids travel in such conditions must be made bearing in mind we don’t want to stampede the growing legal herd. Such is not the case in Aroostook County.

To which I say, Amen again.

“It wasn’t that bad,” shrugged PI bus driver Leighton Perkins, a solid-looking 51-year-old retired phone company service man with an easy smile. “We don’t have that much trouble up in the County with snow. We lost one day of school last year. They take good care of the roads and we’re used to driving in it.”

This is not to imply the trip was was a breeze for the PI contingent. Far from it.

What normally is under a three-hour bus ride turned into four hours and fifteen minutes.

“We probably averaged 40 to 45 miles per hour,” Perkins recounted. “You just have to slow down and leave more space.”

Just as a reminder of what happens to those who forget to concentrate, the bus passed a number of vehicles that had driven off the road. And there was the occasional idiot who passed the bus, creating a white-out.

What was it like on the bus for the kids? Well, when you play sports in the County, traveling in snow becomes second nature.

“We play cards, listen to music and talk,” said Tate McPherson, PI’s 6-foot-3 senior big man. “We usually take 15 or 20 minutes to make sure everyone knows the plays and is all set for the game. When we hit Bangor for this game we started concentrating on what we had to do.”

Picture this. The bus pulled up at the HA gym less than 45 minutes prior to the scheduled 4 p.m. tip-off, leaving just enough time to stretch and suit up before warmups began.

Any sports fan with some savvy would expect the Wildcats to start the game groggily, given the long bus trip, right? Even Prescott expected it.

Unh, uh. Remember, this is a County team.

“I’m sure everyone hates to travel to Caribou and Presque Isle to play us,” said McPherson. “It must be the worst bus trip ever for them. But we get used to it because most of our competition is down here.”

Presque Isle seemingly bounded off their bus hitting shots. Less than three minutes into the game, the Wildcats led 11-0.

“I said to the guys before we came out of the locker room, let’s just hang in for a quarter. Let’s just stay close,” said Prescott, shaking his head. “I look up and it’s 11-0. I’m thinking, `why’d I tell them that?’ Why didn’t I say let’s score 45 in the first and be done with it?”‘

Hampden didn’t come into the game with a 4-1 record in Class A for nothing. The Broncos roared back, actually taking a 16-11 lead in the second period.

It became a great game.

Presque Isle simply found its rhythm behind the inside work of McPherson and Matt Casavant and the 3-point shooting of Tom McLellan, rebuilding a lead and holding on down the stretch to improve to 7-1.

“Traveling is a science,” shrugged Prescott afterward. “It takes practice and the understanding it’s another sacrifice that’s got to be done. So let’s make the best of it.”

Presque Isle, which made the trip home in three hours, did just that, at the same time reminding us that just because a road trip is tough doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be made.