Delong sisters lead PI ‘Cats by Caribou

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PRESQUE ISLE – Presque Isle girls basketball coach Jeff Hudson has wondered what would happen if his undefeated Wildcats got into a close game after going almost the entire season with nothing smaller than a 12-point margin of victory.

Hudson has received his answer in the past two games. On Saturday Presque Isle earned a close win over Hermon, and Tuesday night the Wildcats edged rival Caribou 47-40 at the high school gym.

Sophomore Katie Delong scored a team-best 14 points and had five steals as the Wildcats finished their first regular season in Eastern Maine Class B with an 18-0 record. The Vikings go to 13-4 with one game left on their schedule.

“We had to come out and play hard, be tough,” said senior Anna Delong, who scored six points of her eight points in a key third-quarter stretch and is Katie Delong’s sister. “We knew it was going to be tough from the start.”

The teams played in front of about 1,000 fans in a tourney-like atmosphere with cheerleaders from both teams and the Presque Isle band in attendance and students chanting many of the same cheers fans hear at the Bangor Auditorium.

The game itself was intense as Caribou whittled away a nine-point PI lead to make it just two points at halftime. The Wildcats, who don’t have a lot of height, had trouble containing 6-foot Caribou forward Monica Selander and 5-11 Lindsay Burlock.

Selander had six of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter, including the last two of the baskets of the period. The Vikings also outrebounded the ‘Cats 10-8 in the first half.

But Presque Isle, which relies mostly on man-to-man, full-court pressure defense, came out in a 2-3 zone after halftime. Selander was 4-for-8 from the floor in the second half, but the Vikings had nine turnovers trying to force the ball inside to her.

“In that stretch it was the turnovers,” Caribou coach Bill Schofield said. “Instead of making the easy pass, we tried to make the hard pass. [Inside] is where we want it to go, with Monica and Lindsay in there, but when they switched to that zone it was harder to get it in there.”

Caribou never led in the game, but Selander did score off a Burlock assist to make it 23-23 early in the third. Anna Delong responded with a layup off a pass from Natasha Deschene, Katie Delong knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side, and Anna Delong hooked up with Deschene again to make it 33-23.

“I think sometimes they were so worried with the 3-point shooters that they’d forget about me on the baseline,” said Anna Delong, who at 5-9 is Presque Isle’s tallest starter. “Tash [Deschene] does a good job of driving in and getting them to collapse on her so I can get open.”

Burlock scored two straight baskets and Selander made two free throws to cut the lead to one point. Michelle Post responded with a 3-pointer for Presque Isle, then Selander scored off another Burlock pass, but Post drained another 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 run at the end of the third.

The Wildcats had a five-point lead early in the fourth when Moriah Morris hit a 3-pointer to make it 43-35.

It’s no coincidence that Hermon and Caribou have been the only teams so far to give Presque Isle trouble. Both have tough inside players, which was part of Presque Isle’s struggles in the second quarter Tuesday. The Wildcats were forced to go to a zone for the first time all season against the Hawks on Saturday.

“We have trouble with big teams,” Hudson said. “We were getting pounded on the boards. At halftime [Tuesday] we said we’ve got to penetrate, get closer to the basket, then kick it out or look to our short corners to get some easy baskets. I was happy with how we executed in the third quarter.”

Selander had 11 rebounds. Lauren Harrigan and Burlock combined for 13 more.

The Wildcats, well known for their shooting ability, went 7-for-17 from 3-point range and 19-for-45 overall.

Caribou played a 2-3 zone for most of the game.

“I guess it was a little tougher,” Katie Delong said. “We had to work the ball around more to get open.”

Schofield didn’t make any substitutions in the game. The Vikings were already missing guard Amy Bouchard due to a season-ending knee injury and fellow starter Makayla Gahagan was home sick.

“My girls are tired,” Schofield said with a smile.

WILDCATS 47, VIKINGS 40

Caribou (13-4) Presque Isle (18-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Harrigan 3 10 0 0 7 Deschene 2 6

Ouellette 2 2 0 0 4 A. Delong 4 8

Burlock 4 6 0 0 8 Post 3 8 8

Selander 8 15 5 9 21 K. Delong 5 14

Morrell 0 5 0 0 0 Demerchant 1 2

Smith 1 7 0 2

Morris 2 2 0 5

Richards 1 5 2

Totals 17 38 5 9 40 19 45 47

Caribou 8 21 31 40

Presque Isle 17 23 40 47

3-pt. goals ? Caribou (1-8): Harrigan 1-6, Morrell 0-2; Presque Isle (7-17): K. Delong 3-5, Post 2-6, Morris 1-1, Deschene 1-2, Smith 0-3

Attendance: 1,000 (est.)

JV: Presque Isle 43-32