Caribou boys basketball team outlasts Foxcroft for first win

By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Foxcroft Academy boys basketball team heads into its first road game of the season hoping for a better outcome than it has earned in three games at home.

The Ponies, who play at Hermon on Wednesday night and then at Washington Academy of East Machias on Saturday, fell to 0-3 on Saturday with a 49-48 loss to Caribou, with those three defeats coming by a combined 13 points.

Caribou arrived at Foxcroft seeking to rebound from a season-opening, 39-30 loss at John Bapst of Bangor where the Vikings shot 25 percent from the field and committed 25 turnovers.

The Vikings’ most experienced player, senior guard Donovan Savage, ultimately was the difference, scoring a game-high 19 points including the go-ahead free throw with 3.2 seconds left after Foxcroft standout Hunter Smith had driven the lane for a game-tying, three-point play that produced a 48-48 tie six seconds earlier.

Savage missed his second free-throw attempt — after making his first 10 tries in the game — but while Foxcroft’s Noah Allen grabbed the rebound the Ponies were unable to get a shot off before time expired.

“We definitely needed a win for confidence, for momentum going forward,” said Savage.

Sophomore forward Nick Allen and senior forward Ricky Sheldon each added 10 points for Caribou.

Smith paced a Foxcroft team still minus rotational players Nick Fortier and Nick Clawson due to injuries with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve guard Phillip Pleninger scored 13 points — including three 3-pointers — and Allen contributed 10 points and five rebounds.

Caribou capitalized on early Foxcroft foul trouble and 15 first-half points from Savage to erase a 17-7 deficit and take a 29-28 lead into intermission.

Caribou (1-1) then outscored Foxcroft 10-0 in the opening moments of the third quarter to extend its overall run to 14 consecutive points. Sheldon scored the final four points of the first half, then followed a 3-pointer by Savage with four more points before a 3-pointer by junior guard Andre Rossignol from the left of the key gave the Vikings their biggest lead at 39-28 with 5:15 left in the period.

Foxcroft rallied from 3-point land as Smith and each made two long-range strikes to help coach Tyler Erickson’s club draw within 44-42 entering the fourth quarter.

Caribou never trailed in the final period but never led by more than four points, and the Vikings eventually found success working the clock down against Foxcroft’s trapping zone defense.

A spin move from under the basket by Sheldon after a lengthy possession gave Caribou a 48-45 lead with 1:42 remaining, but while Foxcroft then missed two free throws the Ponies got the ball back after a five-second violation against Caribou with 21.3 seconds left.

Smith drove directly to the basket to tie the game, but when the Ponies inadvertently applied backcourt pressure Savage drove through the defense and earned the game-winning trip to the line.

“We had a few people who made some big shots and we had a few big stops,” said Savage. “They have some great players and made some good shots themselves, but we always responded.”