Considering recent history, the time of the season, a distinct height disadvantage and the long bus ride, Presque Isle’s 45-43 schoolgirl basketball victory over Hampden Saturday was a bit unexpected.

“Unbelievable. We absolutely stole that game,” coach Jeff Hudson said Monday, minutes before the 4-0 Wildcats left for a game against Class B rival Fort Kent.

“We always play terrible [at Hampden],” Hudson added. “We’ve upset them at home but we’ve been pounded at Hampden.”

Presque Isle is the only undefeated girls team left in the Class A Big East Conference after logging wins over Houlton, Old Town, Caribou and the Broncos.

Aside from the fact that PI hasn’t played well at Hampden, Hudson was also worried about the game being the Saturday after Christmas – who knows how teams respond in a week of mixed-up schedules – and Hampden’s bigger, more physical players.

The ‘Cats were down 17-0 at one point in the first quarter. They were outrebounded by Hampden’s height – the Broncs start 5-foot-9 Emmy Russell and 5-11 Jillian Beal – and were plagued by traveling calls.

Presque Isle turned the game around in the fourth quarter. The Broncos were up by 13 headed into the final period but two 3-pointers from freshman Kylan Smith helped to erase the lead and freshman Katie Delong’s four steals kept the Wildcats in the game.

Hampden actually shot better from the foul line overall – the Broncos were 13-for-21 and the Wildcats were 11-for-24 – but Presque Isle got six free throws in the fourth quarter from Billi Blanchard, who finished with a game-high 16 points.

Blanchard did the same thing in a Dec. 17 game against Class B Houlton, in which she was 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. The Shiretowners had a nine-point lead going into the final quarter of that game.

The 5-9 senior guard-forward, now in her fourth season as a starter, has been averaging 20 points per game this year.

“Billi’s been the most consistent,” Hudson said. “… We’re awful scrappy this year.”

Cony emerges with tourney win

The field for last week’s Oakhurst Capital City Hoop Classic was stacked with some of the best girls basketball players and teams in the state, and host Cony of Augusta emerged with the tourney championship in Saturday’s final game.

The Rams, last year’s Eastern Maine Class A champions, faced Nokomis of Newport in a rematch of last year’s regional final and a matchup most already anticipate for this season’s EM title game. Cony emerged with a 55-38 win.

Cony also beat strong Class B team Maranacook of Readfield and two-time defending Class B state champion MDI.

The Warriors got to the title game by virtue of wins over Dirigo of Dixfield, the defending Class C state champ, Class A Westbrook and Maranacook.

MDI missed its game Thursday against Westbrook because of the Christmas night snowstorm, but beat Dirigo the next day.

Cony’s Ashley Underwood, who will play for the University of Maine next year, was named the tournament MVP. Cony’s Katie Rollins and Karen Sirois were named to the all-tournament team, as were New Hampshire-bound Danielle Clark of Nokomis, MDI’s Bracey Barker (also headed to UMaine) and Regina Wohl of Westbrook.

Heal Point release dates

Eager to see where your team stacks up? Waiting to find out how a rival is doing?

It’s all coming to you today, when the Maine Principals’ Association releases the first basketball and ice hockey Heal points of the winter season.

Heal points are available on the MPA’s Web site, www.mpa.cc.

Heal points will be released Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4 (Class A basketball and ice hockey only), Feb. 11 and 18.

Final points for Classes B, C and D basketball will be released Feb. 9 depending on weather conditions. Final hockey points are to be released Feb. 20 and Class A basketball will be out Feb. 22.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.