PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle boys will join the Wildcat girls in Bangor this weekend after beating No. 9 Hermon Hawks in a Class B prelim game 55-45 Wednesday evening.
With the victory, the No. 8 Wildcats (10-8 overall) draw the tough task of facing No. 1 Ellsworth (19-0) in the quarterfinals at the Cross Insurance Center at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. No. 9 Hermon ends its season with a 10-9 overall record.
In Wednesday’s prelim, Presque Isle’s Malachi Cummins led his team with 25 points, followed by Xavier McAtee with 19 and Noah Yarema with five. Jackson Turner added another four points and both Jack Buck and Jack Hallett chipped in one.
For Hermon, Trey Brown led the team with 17 points, followed by Clark Pelletier with 15 and Johnny Kokoska with five. Both Noah Miles and Owen Wyman added in four.
Both teams played evenly during the first quarter, with the Wildcats finishing the quarter on top 15-12.
The second quarter featured more of the same, only it was Hermon who held the advantage, 26-24, heading into the halftime break.
The Wildcats were able to push more in the third, playing more defensively to limit Hermon’s scoring. This was in part due to many great steals by Cummings. The Wildcats held a small 43-38 lead over Hermon by the end of the third quarter.
It was in the final quarter that Presque Isle found its groove — improving communication and making the most of its opportunities from the free throw line.
“It’s been an up and down year for us, and tonight, we really put things together,” said Presque Isle coach Terry Cummings.
“We had a nice run early in the fourth quarter to create a little separation. They [Hermon] are a very well coached team that is very disciplined, so we knew it was going to take a great amount of effort to come away with a victory tonight. I am so proud of my guys and I couldn’t be more proud of my seniors. They are a great group and they have worked hard all year.”