Chris Carlin finally took the wrap off his elbow Saturday, and that helped him take the wraps off his game while helping Presque Isle defeat Fort Kent 75-61 to advance to the Eastern Maine Class B boys basketball semifinals.

Carlin, a 6-foot senior point guard for No. 4 Presque Isle, missed eight games midway through the season with a hyperextended elbow suffered Dec. 18 during a loss to Mount Desert Island at Bar Harbor.

He returned to action about a month later, and perhaps the best measurement of his progress since then was his 14-point, four-assist, three-steal effort in helping the Wildcats pull away from Fort Kent in the second half.

“It was kind of tough at first getting back into it because the elbow would be stiff off and on and would get sore,” Carlin said. “For a while I had to have it wrapped, but this was the first game I haven’t had it wrapped since I hurt it. It just feels a lot looser when it’s not wrapped.”

Carlin, who has been on the Presque Isle varsity since his freshman season, also had to battle his own expectations upon his return to the lineup.

“I think I said in practice [Friday] that if anyone deserved to have a nice tournament game, it was Chris with all he’s been through,” said Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott. “As a senior you hate to sit and watch when you think you could be making a contribution, and when he came back he wanted to do everything right all at once, so it was a struggle for a while.

“But with every day he seems to be getting a little more comfortable out there.”

That showed in Saturday’s victory, when Carlin made 7 of 12 shots from the field and had six points, an assist, and a steal during a 10-2 run that broke the game open early in the second half.

Carlin’s teammates certainly are happy to have him back at full strength – the Wildcats are 7-1 since his return.

“When Chris was out, we didn’t have a regular point guard out there to run the offense,” said junior forward Greg Whitaker, “and with him back it’s a lot more comfortable.”

A coming-out party

One early entry for best tournament debut goes to 6-foot-6 senior center Mitchell Ouellet of Fort Kent, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the Warriors loss to Presque Isle.

Making Ouellet’s performance all the more impressive was the fact he had to battle a Presque Isle front line measuring 6-6, 6-5, and 6-5.

Ouellet made 11 of 17 shots from the field and converted several offensive rebounds into instant offense.

“He takes up a lot of space, and he’s got nice, soft hands,” said Prescott. “He really catches the bounce pass well, which is something a lot of big people don’t always do. He’s got excellent footwork for a kid that big, and gets nice position in the post.

“He’s a handful, a load, and if you don’t take care of him, he’s going to hurt you. He pretty much ate us up tonight.”

Ouellet hopes to take advantage of collegiate defenses next fall when he attends St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

“I think in two years he’ll be an All-American at that level,” said Fort Kent coach Tim Farrar. “He’s still growing, he’s only 17.

“He’s got about any move you want, and his upside is huge. The sky’s the limit because he’s still growing into his body.”

Ankles away

The first two days of the Eastern B boys basketball tournament weren’t without injuries, as two surviving teams are hoping for the return to good health of starters who suffered left ankle injuries.

Senior guard Jason Cynewski of No. 2 Foxcroft Academy went down with just over five minutes left in the Ponies’ 59-47 quarterfinal win over No. 10 Mount View of Thorndike on Friday night.

Top-ranked Camden Hills of Rockport, meanwhile, lost 6-4 senior center Nick Tedford to an ankle injury just before halftime of its 44-39 win against No. 9 Ellsworth on Saturday afternoon.

“We really only go eight deep, so losing one of eight definitely hurts us a lot,” said senior guard Jamey Davis.

Camden Hills will face Presque Isle in one regional semifinal Wednesday night, right after Foxcroft faces defending state champion Erskine Academy of South China at 7:05 p.m.

Rivalry time

As the Ellsworth and MDI girls basketball teams were collecting themselves after the Trojans’ stunning 38-37 win, three Eagles players emerged from the MDI locker room, their eyes still red and rimmed with tears.

There might be a rivalry between these two teams, but it says something that the Ellsworth girls felt the need to visit with their Hancock County comrades after the game.

MDI coach Chip Taylor, a 1990 Ellsworth graduate, understands the respect between the two teams.

“The two towns are so close together and these girls have played against each other ever since first grade and travel,” he said as the Ellsworth girls left the MDI locker room. “And I have to believe that if it was the other way around and our girls had lost, they would have done the same thing.”

The traditionally heated rivalry was one of the reasons the crowd was so electric for a 9:35 a.m. Saturday quarterfinal. It lived up to its billing, too, as the Trojans withstood an Eagle rally and MDI senior Emma Stanley’s 3-pointer with two seconds left was the winner.

“We felt good. We’re always excited to play them,” Ellsworth coach Dana Smith said. “They’re great girls, a great rivalry. It was fun. Other than the last .6 seconds, it was a ball.”

Press no problem for Tigers

The Rockland girls basketball team worked on only one element of its game in the week prior to the Eastern Maine Class B tournament: handling the ball against pressure. Specifically, handling the ball against Presque Isle’s scrappy full-court press.

To that end, the Tigers brought in their counterparts from the Rockland boys varsity team to play the role of the Wildcats.

All that practice worked. The Tiger girls did have 21 turnovers, but fewer than five against the press – and just two in fourth quarter.

“That’s all we worked on,” said junior forward Caitlin Hynes. “Any practice we would do, we practiced against the boys. The high schoolers did the press, probably harder than [PI does].”

It also helped to have the 5-11 Hynes bringing the ball down the court against Presque Isle’s smaller guards. And the Tigers face tough pressure defense at least twice a year when playing KVAC rival Camden Hills.

“We struggle [against Camden Hills],” Hynes said. “… We didn’t let it bother us in this game.”

The Wildcats, who lost as the No. 1 seed for the second year in a row, had only eight turnovers.