Wildcats, Bulldogs to meet in semis

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Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott calls Caribou’s franchise forward Chris Funk “a complete octopus.”

With Funk playing on a badly sprained ankle, Prescott’s Wildcats proved one thing in earning a semifinal date with Lawrence with a 74-52 Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal win over the Vikings Saturday: an octopus with one bum leg may still be a formidable foe, but it isn’t quite as scary as it could be.

Presque Isle plays No. 1 Lawrence of Fairfield, which defeated Hampden Academy 63-47 in another `A’ quarterfinal.

Sure, the 6-foot-5 Funk still scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. But on defense, where he usually waves what must seem like eight arms as the front man on the Caribou press, the Vikes had to make some concessions. With the ankle limiting his mobility, Coach Jeff Holmes had to move Funk out of the backcourt.

Presque Isle roared out of the gate, scoring the first 10 points of the game on hoops by four different players. Toby Plummer and Tate McPherson started the run from the inside, and Tom McLellan and Matt Casavant followed up with 3-pointers.

And though the Vikes recovered to play even for the rest of the first quarter, Presque Isle had another run waiting.

When Toby Newbegin scored from the baseline with 6:52 left in the half to pull Caribou within 24-13, the ‘Cats converted a rash of turnovers into a 12-4 quarter-ending run. The Vikings made nine turnovers in the second quarter against a varying set of 1-3-1 and 3-2 zones by Presque Isle.

The closest 12-6 Caribou got in the second half was 13.

“(Against) their half-court zone, we did not execute well,” Holmes said. “We had trouble with it. Our passing was poor.”

“I’m not going to make excuses,” Holmes said. “They outplayed us.”

Presque Isle, 12-5, switched between the two defenses for much of the game, but benefited from constant defensive pressure by senior forward Plummer.

Plummer finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, and Prescott said Plummer “touched the ball 400 times.”

McPherson, a senior forward, scored a game-high 24 points for the ‘Cats, and grabbed 14 rebounds.

Prescott said the zone scheme’s success was shocking.

“If you had told me I could win a tournament game, ever, without playing a minute of man-to-man, I would have just quit,” he said. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

In Lawrence’s 63-47 win, Billy Cole scored 13 points in the opening 4:46, and Allan Richards slowed down Hampden sharpshooter Jon Kunz enough to give the Bulldogs the win.

When Cole took a rest break with 3:14 left in the first quarter, his three 3-pointers and two layups had staked the ‘Dogs to a 15-0 lead. Meanwhile, Richards was hounding Kunz, holding the 6-foot-4 forward to just three shots and two points in the quarter.

“Richards was phenomenal tonight on defense,” Lawrence coach Mike McGee said. “I tell the kids, when you raise your hand and need a break, you’re playing basketball. You’re playing hard. And Richards needed about six tonight, and he hasn’t needed one all year.”

“I’ve never had to guard anybody like that all year,” Richards explained.

Kunz did break loose for 21 points on just 11 shots. Nine of those points came on three long-range jumpers in the third quarter, when Hampden chipped away at a 19-point halftime deficit.

“I don’t care if you put Paul Bunyan in his face,” Cole said. “He’s still gonna make those shots the way he was shooting.”

The Broncos pulled within 12 at 42-30 on Reid Harris’ driving layup wth 2:17 left in the quater, but got no closer than that the rest of the game.

“Their defense is smothering, and that was a big part of it,” Hampden coach Earl Anderson said. “But I thought we had some good offensive opportunities early.”

Cole led the Bulldogs with 23 points, while Tommy Reynolds added 12.

Harris finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for 13-6 Hampden.

Bulldogs 63, Broncos 47

Hampden boys Lawrence

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Bartlett 3 0 0 0 0 Holmstrom 0 0 0 0 0

Kelly 7 0 6 3 3 Seeley 0 0 0 0 0

Carson 4 2 0 0 4 Dnhe-Beard 0 0 0 0 0

Kunz 11 6 6 6 21 Harrison 1 0 0 0 0

McBean 9 3 2 2 9 Winship 5 0 8 6 6

Harris 7 4 3 2 10 Knights 3 3 1 0 9

Peppard 1 0 1 0 0 Richards 4 3 1 1 7

Hiltz 1 0 0 0 0

Reynolds 8 4 5 4 12

Cole 16 8 5 4 23

Nowlin 3 3 0 0 6

Fortier 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 42 15 18 13 47 Totals 41 21 20 15 63

Hampden 6 17 31 47

Lawrence 23 36 48 63

3-pt. goals: Hampden (4-12): Bartlett 0-1, Kelly 0-1, Carson 0-1, Kunz 3-6, McBean 1-3; Lawrence (6-12): Winship 0-1, Knights 3-3, Hiltz 0-1, Cole 3-7

Wildcats 74, Vikings 52

Caribou boys Presque Isle

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Ouellette 6 2 0 0 4 Bishop 0 0 0 0 0

Griffeth 2 1 0 0 3 Keenan 2 1 0 0 3

Doody 8 2 0 0 5 Demerchant 0 0 0 0 0

Newbegin 3 1 4 2 4 Saucier 4 4 9 3 11

Sargent 6 1 1 1 3 Plummer 6 5 3 1 11

Clark 0 0 0 0 0 McLellan 9 2 4 3 8

Salminen 12 3 2 2 8 Nightengale 2 0 0 0 0

Smith 2 2 0 0 4 Casavant 16 3 0 0 7

Funk 16 6 5 4 19 McPherson 14 9 8 6 24

St. Peter 1 0 2 1 1 Archer 1 0 0 0 0

Phelps 2 0 2 1 1 Screnock 0 0 2 2 2

White 7 3 3 0 8

Totals 58 18 16 11 52 Totals 59 27 29 15 74

Caribou 11 16 29 52

Presque Isle 22 36 53 74

3-pt. goals: Caribou (5-23): Ouellette 0-2, Griffeth 1-2, Doody 1-6, Newbegin 0-1, Sargent 0-3, Salminen 0-4, Funk 3-5; Presque Isle (5-18): Keenan 1-2, McLellan 1-5, Casavant 1-7, White 2-4