Presque Isle shocks No. 2 Winslow in B North boys quarterfinal
In the tournament’s biggest upset so far, No. 7 Presque Isle took down No. 2 Winslow on Friday night in a B North boys basketball quarterfinal.
Brayden Castonguay drilled a triple from the right corner with two seconds left on the third quarter clock, the Presque Isle crowd that traveled for hours to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor went wild and the Wildcats were a quarter away from a massive upset in the quarterfinals.
The triple put No. 7 Presque Isle up eight on No. 2 Winslow and it had all the momentum. The Wildcats kept the pressure up in the fourth and hung on for a 65-45 upset victory.
Presque Isle will play No. 3 Orono on Wednesday in the semifinals.
Winslow (17-2) defeated Presque Isle (11-8) twice in the regular season.
The Black Raiders built a 16-14 lead after the first quarter thanks in part to five points from both Jason Reynolds and Andrew Poulin. On the other side, Malachi Cummings scored seven for Presque Isle.
Cummings and Reynolds are both 1,000-point career scorers.
The Wildcats held Winslow to just four points in the second quarter and Presque Isle took a 23-20 lead into the half.
Cummings added 10 points in the third quarter and teammate Jack Buck added four. On defense, much of Presque Isle’s attention was paid to Reynolds.
Reynolds, who averaged 28.8 points per game this season, had just two points in the second quarter and was held scoreless in the third. Poulin poured in seven points in the third but the Wildcats scored 19 in the third, including Castonguay’s three, and took a 42-34 lead into the final frame.
Presque Isle started the fourth quarter shooting 10-11 from the free throw line and stifled everyone on Winslow except Poulin, who hit two 3-pointers early in the period.
With 2:20 to play, Cummings grabbed a rebound and pushed the ball up to halfcourt where he was fouled hard on the head. Cummings exited the game due to bleeding but left the Wildcats a 58-42 lead.
Cummings finished with 27 points.
Reynolds finally got on the board in the fourth with a free throw with two minutes to play but the Wildcats’ defensive game plan did the job holding the star senior to just eight points.
Dawson Beaulieu shot 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth and finished with 11 points for Presque Isle.
Poulin paced Winslow with 19 points.