Patient Panther puts in 1,000th Jason Woodworth reaches milestone

As Jason Woodworth looked at the big picture during Central Aroostook of Mars Hill’s 91-40 Eastern D quarterfinal victory over Greenville on Monday, he couldn’t have been happier.

For the Panthers, one of the favorites for this year’s regional title, were rolling toward a semifinal rendezvous with Calvary Chapel of Orrington. Those teams met in last year’s EM final, with Calvary Chapel winning in overtime.

But there was a sidebar much more personal to Woodworth – his pursuit of career point No. 1,000.

The 6-foot-1 senior guard entered the contest needing 16 points to reach the milestone, but two quick fouls meant he spent considerable time seated near Central Aroostook coach Tim Brewer rather than on the court contributing to the Panthers’ high-powered offense.

“I sat out the last three minutes of the first quarter, and some in the fourth quarter,” said Woodworth. “The way it was going, I didn’t think I was going to get it.”

Not to worry. Woodworth had eight points by halftime and 15 points through three quarters.

And with 6:10 left in the game, he went to the line for a pair of free throws. When he made the first one, the milestone was achieved and the hometown crowd cheered in appreciation.

“I figured I’d get it when I get it,” he said. “I just want to get a state championship.”

Returning to home whites

Sometimes you just can’t tell the home team by the uniform.

Many schools today play in light-colored home jerseys, including several teams participating in this year’s tournament, among them Maranacook of Readfield (yellow), Lee Academy (gray) and Calvary Chapel of Orrington (gold).

But that trend is set to change beginning with the 2007-08 season, according to Maine basketball commissioner Peter Webb.

The National Federation of State High School Associations has approved a rule change that will require home team jerseys to be white, with visiting jerseys remaining a dark color.

The rule previously stated that “light colored home team jerseys should be worn.”

But the federation ultimately determined that with new styles and colors becoming more prevalent and teams showing more creativity with fashion and light colors, greater liberties were taken with the regulation. In some cases, that made it made it more difficult to differentiate between the home and road teams.

Class C opens today

The Class C teams finally take the Bangor Auditorium floor today with six quarterfinal games.

Two girls games open the morning session with No. 6 Washington Academy of East Machias taking on No. 3 Woodland at 9:35 a.m. Tourney perennial Calais, No. 2, concludes the morning session with an 11:05 contest against No. 7 Limestone.

Upset-minded Schenck of East Millinocket, seeded 11th, opens the first Class C boys session at 2:05 p.m. when it battles No. 3 Washington Academy. Seventh-seeded Penquis of Milo then plays No. 7 Calais at 3:35 p.m.

The girls return for the evening session when No. 5 Central of Corinth plays No. 4 Stearns of Millinocket at 7:05 p.m. The busy tourney day ends with an 8:35 p.m. contest with No. 8 Mattanawcook playing No. 1 Dexter.

The Class C quarterfinals wrap up Wednesday morning when No. 5 George Stevens of Blue Hill battles No. 4 Madawaska at 9:35, followed by No. 9 Piscataquis of Guilford against No. 1 Dexter at 11:05 a.m.

Class B takes over the Auditorium with two girls semifinal games in the afternoon: No. 3 Winslow vs. No. 2 Maranacook of Readfield at 2:05 p.m. and No. 8 Rockland vs. No. 5 Mount Desert Island at 3:35 p.m. The boys semifinal round follows in the evening session with No. 3 Erskine Academy of South China vs. No. 2 Foxcroft at 7:05 p.m. and No. 4 Presque Isle vs. No. 1 Camden Hills at 8:35 p.m.