Chemistry helps Katahdin open season with big victory

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Perhaps the most notable results from the first weekend of the schoolboy basketball season came in Class D, where both regional champions lost their opening games.

Katahdin of Stacyville upended reigning state champ Central Aroostook 68-48 in one of the few games played Friday night, while Richmond topped eight-time defending Western D champion Valley of Bingham 80-70 on Saturday.

Katahdin used a 1-3-1 zone defense to challenge Central Aroostook’s perimeter shooters, and broke the game open by holding the Panthers to just three points in the third quarter to extend a 37-26 halftime advantage to 53-29.

“The third quarter was the big one for us,” said Katahdin coach Bill McAvoy. “We extended our 1-3-1, and they really didn’t shoot well and got a little frustrated, and we kept people wherever [CAHS star Andrew] York was, because he’s such a good player.”

Friday’s win also marked the varsity arrival of Jared Anderson, a 6-foot-3 junior who scored a game-high 30 points.

“He really worked hard all summer,” said McAvoy. “He’s very slim, but he’s got a nice, soft shooting touch and goes to the boards very well.”

Anderson is one of three juniors on a team that features 11 seniors, a contingent led by forward Owen McCarthy and guard Patrick Willett.

“The thing about this group is that the chemistry is so good,” said McAvoy, who was honored before the game for earning his 300th career win late last season. “If you went to the movie theater and saw one of them there, you’d probably see the other 10 there, too.”

Katahdin, which last won an Eastern D title in 2000, returns to action Thursday against Hodgdon and then faces Bangor Christian on Saturday.

In Western D, Richmond used a 2-1-2 zone featuring the inside work of 6-foot-10 Marc Zahurchuk to relegate Valley’s offense to the perimeter, and while guard Cole Pullen scored 25 points for the Cavaliers, senior center Travis Hovey was limited to 11 by both the zone and an ankle injury he suffered late in the first half.

The loss was the first to a fellow East-West Conference foe in eight years for Valley, which won six consecutive state titles between 1998 and 2003 before falling in the state final to Calvary Chapel of Orrington in 2004 and to Central Aroostook last season.

‘Jammers eye 7th straight title

A year ago, Camden Hills of Rockport fielded one of its youngest wrestling teams in recent history, and it was reflected in how the Windjammers prepared for their matches.

“We practiced a little different last year,” said Cody Laite, now a senior on coach Patrick Kelly’s club. “We practiced more technique, and this year we’re starting right out of the gates working on conditioning because all the kids are seasoned veterans and they know what the technique is.”

With their youth, last winter may have been the time for opponents to catch up with Camden Hills, but even then the Windjammers captured their 11th straight Eastern Maine Class B crown before tying for the state championship with Mountain Valley of Rumford.

Now armed with four returning champions and three others who reached the title matches of their weight divisions at the state meet, Camden Hills is poised to seek its seventh consecutive state title.

“Obviously we’re looking for No. 7,” said senior Harry Pearson, a two-time state champ at 160 pounds. “We’re practicing hard and looking for No. 7. All of our meets are practice for states, so we’ll go out there and do what we’re supposed to do. We’ll go into the practice room and wrestle hard. We all know what is expected of us, and that’s how we try to wrestle every day.”

Pearson, Laite (140), Murphy McGowan (103) and True Bragg (119) are all back after winning individual state crowns last February, while Joe McGowan (112), Derek Young (130) and Oliver Bradeen (189) placed second at the states in 2005.

Only Bradeen is slated to compete in the same weight class this winter, while Murphy McGowan (112), brother Joe McGowan (125), Bragg (130), Young (135), Laite (145) and Pearson (171) will move up in weight to anchor the Windjammers’ roster.

“Last year was a young squad,” said Kelly. “Some kids hadn’t proven themselves yet, they hadn’t either gotten to the state finals or brought home a championship.

“This year as I look around, we’ve got a bunch of state finalists on the squad, and a number of them in some regards are still young. We’re striving for individual success and team success, but individual builds team.”

Other returning wrestlers for the Windjammers are Jeremy Burnside (119), Jacob Berry (140), Randy LeMar (152), Max McClennen (160), and Ethan Dinsmore (275). Chaz Guthrie is expected to step in at 215 to replace Gibby Bryant, who died suddenly last month, while transfer Kristi Pearse will move in to the 103-pound slot.

Pearse is one of three girls on the squad, and the sophomore has plenty of credentials after finishing third at 140 pounds in last season’s Class C state meet while competing for Wiscasset.

“Kristi has really good basic skills, and she’s got a tremendous amount of inner drive,” Kelly said. “One of the things I’ve been working on with her is coming around to our style of wrestling, more what not to do rather than what to do.

“At 103, she’ll be very, very competitive, and another thing I like about her is she’s extremely coachable.”

Other girls on the squad are freshmen Logan Rich and Chianne Simmons.

“They just happen to be female, but they’re wrestlers,” said Kelly. “They’re no different. As far as wrestling goes, they’ve got the respect of every one of those guys.”

Mountain Valley and Belfast – third at the 2005 states – are expected to remain among Camden Hills’ chief rivals.

But while the Windjammers’ entered last seasons with some questions of youth, this season they have an air of confidence.

“I don’t see this team as a team that’s going to be slowed down by too many people,” said Kelly. “The only thing that’s going to slow this team down is themselves. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the drive, we’ve got the motivation. It’s a long season, but these guys have already proven to me and to themselves that in adversity they can come through.”