Central Aroostook Defeats Fort Fairfield in Mars Hill; Full Recap

A battle of Jungle Cats in Mars Hill

Aroostook County rivals took to the hardwood in Mars Hill on Thursday as the Central Aroostook Panthers hosted the Fort Fairfield Tigers. With traditional postseason play returning to Maine high school basketball, the Panthers are the defending Class C State Champions. Thank you to David Collins and Robert Holmes for sending us the information from Central Aroostook this season!

Do you remember December? 

The two teams played in Fort Fairfield in December with the Tigers pulling out a one-point victory at the buzzer. Central Aroostook came in sitting #9 with a 9-8 record while Fort Fairfield held a 7-8 record. 

1st Quarter 

The first quarter was an even back-and-forth while the two teams worked to find their offensive grove. For Central Aroostook, Abigail Haines and Kira Fitzherbert each scored 4 points for Coach Flewelling's Panthers. Harleigh Allen added a three-point field goal for CA. Fort Fairfield got a three-point field goal from Sarah McShae with Pheobe Solomon scoring 2 points and Kassidy Gorneault adding one point for the Tigers. The quarter would end with Central Aroostook holding a 9-6 lead. 

2nd Quarter

Central Aroostook's defense overwhelmed the Tigers in the second quarter, holding Fort Fairfield to just 4 points. Fitzherbert made (2) three-point field goals and scored 9 points for the Panthers in the second quarter. Rylee Pierce scored 2 points with Mallory Kingsbury and Izabel Pryor each scoring 1 point in the quarter. Gorneault and Brittany Bragg scored 2 points apiece for Coach Gardiner's Tigers. The score at halftime Central Aroostook 23 Fort Fairfield 10 

3rd Quarter

Fort Fairfield was able to generate some offense in the third quarter, but they were unable to hold down the Central Aroostook attack. Haines made a three-point shot and led the Panthers with 5 points in the third quarter, with Pryor scoring 3 points and Pierce adding 2 points for CA. Kassidy Gorneault knocked down a three-point shot and scored 5 points, with Camryn Ala scoring 4 points for the Tigers. At the end of three quarters the score was Central Aroostook 33 Fort Fairfield 19 

4th Quarter

The Panthers relied on Haines and Fitzherbert to close out the Tigers in the fourth quarter. Kira Fitzherbert scored 5 points in the quarter and finished the game with 18 points in total. Haines scored 4 points and totaled 11 points for the Panthers. Izabel Pryor made a three-point field goal and finished with 7 points while Rylee Pierce added a free throw in the fourth quarter for Central Aroostook. Gorneault and Bri Osterbloom scored 2 points apiece for Fort Fairfield with Solomon and Ala each making a foul shot for the Tigers. Gorneault led the Tigers with 10 points on the night. The final score Central Aroostook 45 Fort Fairfield 25. 

Up Next:

Central Aroostook finishes with a 10-8 record and will likely travel to play Sumner in the preliminary round next week. Fort Fairfield finishes their season 7-9 and will wait for the final heal points to be released to determine their opponent on Tuesday.