Washburn Girls, Fort Fairfield Boys Claim Eastern Maine Crowns

The Washburn girls and Fort Fairfield boys advanced to the state finals with wins on Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Washburn Girls Win 5th Straight Eastern Maine Crown

The Washburn girls claimed their fifth straight Eastern Maine title Saturday morning, pulling away from the Fort Fairfield Tigers in the second half on their way to a 58-44 win at the Cross Insurance Center.

Trailing by four points at halftime, the No. 1 Beavers (21-0) stepped up their pressure defense, turning the No. 3 Tigers over and outscoring them 24-6 in the third quarter. Washburn kept up the pressure and maintained a double digit lead until the final buzzer.

Joan Overman scored 23 points for Washburn, who will vie for what would be a record fifth-straight state championship against West champ Rangeley next Saturday in Bangor. Overman was named player of the game.

Mackenzie Worcester added 16 points for the Beavers and junior Emelia Churchill had 15 points. Junior Laina Mette had four points to round out the scoring for Washburn.

It was a frustrating second half for Fort Fairfield, whose only three losses on the season came by way of Washburn.

Chelsey Pelkey had 14 points to lead the Tigers. Megan Jellsion had 10 points and Taylor Churchill added 8.

Fort Fairfield Boys Pull Away from No. 1 Washburn

The Fort Fairfield boys pulled away from the top-seed Washburn Beavers on Saturday, claiming the Eastern Maine Class D crown and a trip to the state finals against undefeated Forest Hills at 2:45 p.m. in Bangor next Saturday.

The No. 3 Tigers held the Beavers offense in check in the 55-41 win at the Cross Insurance Center.

Washburn held a 26-25 lead at halftime, but scored only four points in the third quarter and entered the final period down 35-30.

Senior forward Hunter Beaulieu pounded the boards in the second game of the day and scored a game high 19 points in the win. He was named player of the game.

Christopher Giberson, a sophomore, added 16 points and Robert Watson had 10.

For Washburn, senior Cameron Bragg finished his high school career with 15 points. Jarrett Olson had 11 points and Noah Caron had 10 for the Beavers.

The two teams were familiar with one another, splitting the season series.