Ponies come close to ending Presque Isle’s three-year win streak

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

    BANGOR — During the 2013-14 regular season, the Presque Isle High School girls had a 75-35 home victory vs. Foxcroft Academy. When the two teams played again several weeks later in Dover-Foxcroft the Ponies nearly ended a Wildcat winning streak that at the time dated back nearly three years. Presque Isle won, 50-48 in overtime, but the team ended up with its smallest margin of victory of the entire season.

Observer photo/Joseph Cyr

    WILDCAT STREAK VS. PONIES’ SEASON — On Feb. 19 No. 5 Foxcroft faced top-seeded Presque Isle in a Class B East girls semifinal in Bangor. The Ponies nearly ended the Wildcats’ 63-game winning streak as Presque Isle hung on for a 53-49 victory. Pictured is Foxcroft junior Julia Annis and Presque Isle junior Hannah Graham.

    The two Big East Conference rivals met for a third time, on a neutral court at the Cross Insurance Center Feb. 19 in a Class B East semifinal game. The two-time defending state champion and top-seeded Wildcats had increased the school’s winning streak to 63 games by tipoff, but once play began the contest resembled the second contest more than the first.
    In the fourth quarter Presque Isle (20-0) built a nine-point lead, 48-39, but an 8-3 run for the fifth-seeded Ponies made the game 51-47 with just over three minutes to play in regulation. With just under two minutes on the clock freshman Grace Bickford drove to the basket from the left and her layup attempt went up and in to put Foxcroft within two at 51-49.
    As the team had done on its previous possession, the Wildcats opted for the simple strategy of holding the basketball and running off clock to preserve the slim lead. With 57 seconds left, Pony senior Mackenzie Coiley was called for a reach-in foul as she tried to make the steal. Foxcroft’s seventh foul of the second half put Presque Isle in the bonus as sophomore Taylor Williams went to the free throw line for a one-and-one.
    Williams’ first foul shot was no good, but the ball rolled out of bounds after last being touched by a Pony. After the Wildcats got the ball in junior Morgan Wilcox was fouled to stop the clock with 40 seconds to go. Wilcox then converted both free throw attempts to put her team ahead 53-49.
    At the other end of the court Presque Isle limited Foxcroft to just one shot as sophomore Regan Nelson grabbed the rebound. The Ponies again fouled to stop the clock, and the strategy worked as junior Hannah Graham missed her first foul shot and Bickford came up with the rebound with 25 seconds to go.
    The Ponies quickly got upcourt, but a 3-point try hit the rim and bounced off and out of bounds to become a Wildcat ball. The team then tried a long pass but beyond halfcourt junior Julia Annis picked off the in-bounds. The turnover led to another Foxcroft 3-point attempt, but the shot missed the mark shortly before time expired.

Observer photo/Joseph Cyr

    KEEP AWAY — Foxcroft junior Brianna Skolfield leaps high into the air to win the opening tipoff against Presque Isle. Skolfield led the Ponies with 17 points.

    The middle stages of the game featured runs by both teams. In the second quarter Foxcroft led by as many as seven at 25-18. From there Presque Isle went on a 20-6 run into the third quarter to lead by seven, 38-31.
    The Wildcats led by nine a few minutes later and then by seven again at the end of the third quarter, 44-37. The team’s advantage would grow to nine one more time in the fourth quarter before Foxcroft nearly eliminated the deficit.
    Junior Brianna Skolfield led Foxcroft with 17 points, while Coiley and senior Amber Anderson also reached double-figures at 12 and 10 points respectively. Skolfield trailed only the 18 points accumulated by Graham, a former resident of Dover-Foxcroft and past youth sports teammate of some of Foxcroft’s players.
    The loss eliminated the Ponies (13-8) from the tournament, the program’s first appearance in Bangor since the 2010 squad reached the Class C East semifinals. The win would be the last in Presque Isle’s 64-game streak, as third-seeded Mount Desert Island High School avenged the team’s only two losses of 2013-14 by defeating the Wildcats in the Class B East championship, 63-51, on Feb. 22.
    Foxcroft’s seniors are Amber Anderson, Amber Chadrawi, Mackenzie Coiley and Brittany Dyer.