Pony boys top Caribou by 33 points to earn 10th victory
DOVER-FOXCROFT – When Foxcroft Academy and Caribou High School met in Aroostook County on Dec. 30, the host Vikings earned a 51-49 victory. When the two Big East Conference/Class B North teams played a second time on Jan. 31 the host Ponies won by a considerably larger margin.
Aided by a 22-11 advantage in the opening quarter and a 20-5 point differential in the third quarter, Foxcroft Academy defeated Caribou by a final score of 77-44. The Ponies improved to 10-4 while Caribou fell to 3-10 with a week-plus remaining in the regular season. Both squads entered the contest having dropped two in a row and on 2-2 stretches.
SLASHING THROUGH – Foxcroft sophomore Jadon Richard drives toward the hoop and around Caribou junior Liam Dee during the second quarter of the Ponies’ 77-44 victory on Jan. 31. Richard led all players with 17 points. Also pictured are, from left, Caribou junior Wesley Lapoint, Foxcroft junior Caden Crocker and senior Austin Seavey, and Caribou freshman Kaymen Sargent.
Sophomore Jadon Richard, senior Filip Brkic, and junior Caden Crocker each scored well into double figures with 17, 16, and 16 points respectively (nearly two thirds of the Pony point total). The trio accounted for 20 of their team’s 22 points in the opening eight minutes, coming on eight field goals and four free throws by Brkic.
He finished 4-of-4 from the foul line and the Ponies as a team shot 21-of-25 (84 percent) from the charity stripe. Foxcroft took advantage of the opposition’s aggression while limiting Caribou’s free throw opportunities. The Vikings made just two foul shots in seven attempts across the entire game.
HANG TIME – Junior Caden Crocker shoots over Caribou junior Reece Cavagnaro (10) and senior Braeden Sargent on Monday evening. Crocker picked up 16 points to help the Ponies improve to 10-4 with a 77-44 victory.
With a 14-point lead at the half, 39-25, the Ponies essentially put Caribou away with a 20-point scoring output in the third quarter while yielding only five points at the other end of the court. Brkic picked up the second half of his 16 points in the third quarter, on a pair of 3-pointers and a jumper.
Ricard scored the final four of his game-high 17 points in the third, on a jump shot and lay-up, and Crocker scored his 14th and 15th points of the evening on a jumper.
PLAY CALL – Pony senior Filip Brkic signals the play to his teammates while being guarded by Caribou freshman Kaymen Sargent.
Sophomore Jackson Smith picked up four points on a pair of shots from the post during the third quarter, part of his 8-point total. Senior Gideon Topolski sank a pair of free throws in the third for the other two of the 20 Foxcroft points after halftime.
FROM DOWNTOWN – Junior Cameron Chase shoots from behind the 3-point line by the Pony bench over the reach of Caribou senior Ari Plante.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Foxcroft 77
Caribou 44
CAR 11 14 5 14 – 44
FOX 22 17 20 18 – 77
Caribou (3-10): Dee 11, B. Sargent 11, K. Sargent 6, Thibodeau 5, Plante 4,
Robbins 3, Bouchard 2, Lapointe 2.
Foxcroft (10-4): Richard 17, Brkic 16, Crocker 16, Smith 8, Rayfield 7, Topolski 5, Henderson 3, Conner 2, Seavey 2, Chase 1.