Foxcroft Academy sports update: basketball teams sweep Caribou, swimmers earn berths in state meet, and more news…

bench reacts

Surging boys’ basketball team captures signature win over Caribou

The Foxcroft Academy boys’ basketball team won 62-53 at 12th-ranked MDI on Wednesday and defeated 7th-ranked Caribou 68-66 in an overtime thriller on Saturday (watch the entire game, courtesy of Nick Decker ’15, below). Winners of three straight, Coach Dave Carey’s club is now 6-6 and has risen to 11th in the Class B East Heal Point standings.

“We’re growing up a bit and starting to incorporate a bit more discipline in what we’re doing,” said Coach Carey.

On Saturday the Ponies battled back from a 34-25 deficit at halftime, outscoring the Vikings 12-6 in the third quarter and 20-17 in an electric final quarter to force overtime. Sean Cody scored a career-high 25 points and freshman Drew Dankert knocked down six of seven three-pointers to lead the Ponies to their biggest win of the season. Cody was 9-20 from the field and a perfect 5-5 at the line while Dankert did all of his damage behind the arc and at the charity stripe, finishing with 20 points. Dylan Harmon-Weeks had four points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, and Nick Clawson chipped in five points and three assists.

Hunter Smith, who came in with 99 points over his previous three contests, finished with 10 points, five steals, four rebounds, and four assists. Though the junior’s numbers may not have been as gaudy as they’ve been in recent games, Coach Carey credited Smith with playing one of his best games of the season. “He didn’t force anything and allowed the game to come to his teammates. He was a leader on the floor and did a great job drawing the double team, being patient, and finding his teammates for open shots.”

The impressive road victory at MDI on Wednesday avenged a home loss to the Trojans just six days prior. Smith handled the heavy lifting for the Pony offense, converting 10 of 17 field goals and 11 of 13 free throws to finish with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Harmon-Weeks scored a season-high 11 points to go with six rebounds and two assists, Clawson had eight points and three rebounds, Cody had five points and nine rebounds, and Dankert had five points and four rebounds.

The Ponies received a boost from a raucous home crowd in the victory on Saturday and will need all the support they can get this week, as they’ll be home for battles with 7-3 Ellsworth on Wednesday at 7 pm and 8-3 Hermon on Saturday at 7 pm. The 1975 state champion team will be honored at halftime of the Hermon game.

Click here to see more of Jing Guo’s photos from the Caribou game.

justin diamond

14 Foxcroft athletes earn points at indoor track meet

The Foxcroft Academy boys’ indoor track team scored a season-high 64 points to finish third behind MDI and Hampden Academy at the season’s fourth PVC-Eastern Maine Indoor Track League Meet at New Balance Field House in Orono on Saturday.

Pete Boyer’s toss of 43-00.00 in the shot put was more than four feet better than anyone else in the field, and the versatile senior also took third in the high jump. Paul Birtwistle finished third in the 800-meter run, Edison Chen placed third in the long jump, Justin Diamond was fourth in the 200-meter dash, Gabe Piquette took fourth in the two-mile run, and Julian Zepeda earned a point with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash. Kelly Erickson ran a 5:27.37 mile to place third while teammate Noah Simpson was not far behind with a time of 5:32.72, good for sixth. Dylan Richards and Jason Eubanks each reached the 55-meter dash final and finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

In relay action, Simpson, Piquette, Erickson, and Birtwistle won the 4×800 relay in convincing fashion while Zepeda, James Smith, Chen, and Diamond were third in the 4×200.

The girls’ team scored 24 points to finish in sixth place. Fern Morrison won the 800-meter run and was runner-up in the 400-meter dash, Virginia Macomber took fourth in the mile run, and Desirae Brawn finished fifth in the shot put.

The Ponies will be back in action at the New Balance Field House on Saturday at 4:00.

Photo taken by Erika Chadbourne ’17.

eli olson

Ayala, Olson, Whittemore win brackets in Ellsworth

The Foxcroft wrestling team finished second behind Ellsworth at a 12-team meet in Ellsworth on Saturday. Seven Ponies reached the finals of their brackets, and three–Tino Ayala (120), Eli Olson (126), and Isaac Whittemore (145)–emerged as champions. RJ Nelson (120), Brooks Law (152), Brandon Brock (195), and Connor Holmes (285) were runners-up while Brandon Weston added a third-place finish at 106 and Connor Johnson took fourth at 132.

The meet featured every team in the Penobscot Valley Conference. “This tournament gives us a good idea of how things are going to look when we compete at the conference championships,” said Coach Luis Ayala, whose team was without top-seeded 195-pounder Michael Pendriss (ankle) and second-seeded 170-pounder Billy Brock (illness). Brock is expected to be back for this weekend while Coach Ayala is confident that Pendriss will be back to full strength for the postseason.

The Ponies will compete at Dexter on Wednesday and at Caribou on Saturday as they ready themselves for the PVC Championship Meet at Mattanawcook Academy on January 31.

Click here to see Elizabeth Rumery’s photos from the meet at FA on January 12.

bourget

Balanced attack leads Ponies to third win

The girls’ basketball team fell to unbeaten MDI 71-38 on Tuesday and bounced back with a solid 57-38 victory over visiting Caribou on Saturday. The win over the Vikings was the Ponies’ third of the season, and they are currently 15th in the Class B East Heal Point standings.

Coach Blake Smith’s team moved the ball well against the Caribou defense and got strong contributions from a number of players on the offensive end. Madison Chadbourne led the way with 14 points, Grace Bickford and Abby Simpson each scored 11, Alli Bourget had 10, Liz Richard had six, Jacquelyn Miles had three, and Kendra Ewer had two.

Bickford and Chadbourne scored nine points a piece in the loss to the Trojans while Simpson netted eight.

The Ponies will play at 8-5 Ellsworth on Tuesday and at 4-9 Hermon on Friday.

Click here to see Holly Ly’s photos from the MDI game, and click here to see more of Matthew Kim’s work from the Caribou game.

four swimmers

Six Pony swimmers secure spots at Class B state meet

The Foxcroft swimming team was off last week and now has two more regular season meets–January 23 at Ellsworth and January 30 vs Washington Academy–prior to competing in the PVC Championship Meets at Husson University on February 6 (boys) and 7 (girls) and in the Class B State Championship Meets at UMO on February 14 (boys) and 16 (girls).

Six Pony swimmers have already claimed spots in the state meet. Senior Julia Annis has qualified in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard IM, and the 100-yard backstroke, where she is currently seeded fifth in Class B. Fellow senior Clay Carroll has qualified in the 100-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 100-yard butterfly, and the 200-yard IM.

Junior Avery Carroll has qualified in the 200-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard IM, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 100-yard backstroke, and the 100-yard butterfly, where she is seeded eighth in Class B. Despite being out of the pool since Christmas break due to an injury, junior Gabie Johnson has qualified in the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke, and the 100-yard butterfly.

Sophomore Jillian Annis has qualified in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM and is closing in on spots in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle.

Freshman Jenna Clukey has qualified in the 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard IM, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, and the 500-yard freestyle, where is presently seeded fifth in Class B. Fellow freshman Chloe Waugh is very close to earning a spot in the 500-yard freestyle.

Coach Jody Annis and her staff feel that this has been a successful season thus far even though there have been bumps along the way. Several other swimmers have made significant progress throughout the season, including Perry Wang–who has shaved more than 25 seconds off his 50-yard freestyle time–and Hunter Giacomuzzi, who has taken 10 seconds off his 100-yard breaststroke.

cheerleaders

Cheerleaders set to compete at Cross Insurance Center on Saturday

The Foxcroft cheerleading team will compete in the Regional Cheering Championship at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor this coming Saturday and will need to place in the top six to advance to the state competition. The Ponies finished eighth at the PVC Cheering Championship in MDI on Saturday and eighth in the Big East Competition in Ellsworth the weekend before.

Toby Nelson

About Toby Nelson

I am the Director of Communications at Foxcroft Academy.