HOWLAND – As the members of the Penobscot Valley girls basketball team tear into their Christmas presents this morning, they would do well to remember that their best gift of the weekend may have come two days earlier.

The Howlers, off to their best start in almost two decades, picked up another win Saturday afternoon, relying on a stingy zone defense and clutch shooting for a 43-38 victory over Stearns of Millinocket at a packed George Sereyko Memorial Gymnasium.

PVHS moves to 7-0 for the first time since the 1986-87 season in which the Howlers finished 18-0. They won just seven games last year.

“It’s amazing. It’s the best Christmas present ever,” said senior guard Morgan Cyr, who had a game-high 11 points. “It really is. Especially with all our alumni in the stands and everybody cheering for us.”

Penobscot Valley coach Joe Cyr was concerned before the game because six of his players – and Cyr himself – were suffering from some kind of illness, either stomach or cold-related.

Instead the Howlers looked energized, especially on defense. Penobscot Valley’s 1-3-1 zone, with sophomore point guard Casey McCloskey pressuring the ball beyond halfcourt, was effective in stopping the Minutemen.

Stearns (3-2) had 28 turnovers and hurt themselves with 8-for-16 shooting from the free throw line.

“It was tough. I had four fouls, our team was in foul trouble, but we did a good job in the 1-3-1,” McCloskey said. “They didn’t get a lot of shots off because our defense is very tough.”

The Howlers held Stearns to just one basket in the third quarter. The Minutemen, who had six turnovers in the period, practiced playing against the 1-3-1 but couldn’t make the offense work.

“We went over it and over it and over it,” Minutemen coach Mike Portwine said. “We couldn’t execute. For some reason, we struggle with that 1-3-1.”

Penobscot Valley used an 8-0 run in the third quarter, starting with a Kacey Plourde jumper to take a 30-26 lead into the fourth. Morgan Cyr hit a 3-pointer to give PVHS a 27-26 lead with 2:07 left in the third and drained another one with 40.9 seconds left for a 30-26 edge.

“We had to start screening for each other, work off screens and get open,” said Cyr, who hit three of her five 3-point tries.

The Howlers relied on free-throw shooting from there, although a McCloskey 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the fourth proved key. Stearns’ Amy Collingsworth sandwiched two baskets around McCloskey’s 3-pointer to cut the lead to 38-35.

Plourde scored nine points and had six rebounds in addition to providing an inside presence when 6-foot center Kelsy Lavertu fouled out with 2:59 left.

“[Joe Cyr] said, it’s your chance to step it up, go in there and rebound and give it all you got,” said 5-9 senior Plourde. “That’s what I tried to do.”

Lexi Thurlow came off the bench for five of her seven points and all three rebounds in the fourth. She made a free throw for a 5-point lead with 30.9 remaining just before Stearns’ Paige Curtis drove inside for a basket to make it 41-38.

After a series of timeouts, Penobscot Valley’s Mindy Dolley, rebounded a missed Stearns 3-point attempt and got the ball to Plourde for a layup with less than two seconds left.

“That fourth quarter was all heart,” Joe Cyr said. “We were in-your-face aggressive. It’s a tough defense.”

Deanna Michaud led Stearns with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Stearns was without 5-11 center Angela McDonald most of the game because of foul trouble. She still had 11 rebounds and five points in limited minutes.

HOWLERS 43, MINUTEMEN 38

Stearns (3-2) Penobscot Val. (7-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Curtis 2 6 0 0 4 Bowers 0 0 0

Michaud 5 18 0 0 10 Thurlow 2 3 7

Davis 0 0 0 0 0 McClosky 2 12 1 9 7

Rosebush 3 8 0 0 6 Cyr 3 6 11

Collnswrth 3 10 2 3 8 Plourde 3 6 9

Achorn 0 6 0 1 0 Lavertu 1 12 7

Leavitt 0 0 1 2 1 Dolley 1 17 2

Lyons 0 8 4 8 4

McDonald 2 4 1 2 5

Totals 15 60 8 16 38 Totals 12 56 14 28 43

Stearns 15 24 26 38

Penobscot Valley 7 20 30 43

3-pt. goals – Stearns (0-8): Curtis 0-1, Collinsworth 0-3, Achorn 0-4; Penobscot Valley (5-15): Cyr 3-5, McCloskey 2-3, Dolley 0-7

JV: Stearns 56-18

Attendance: 400 (est.)