Despite Saturday night’s 38-17 loss at Waterville, Presque Isle High School girls basketball coach Jeff Hudson is still upbeat about his team’s 7-2 start.
“We’re further along than I expected,” said Hudson, who annexed his 400th career coaching win on Dec. 14 with a 52-46 victory over Waterville.
The rematch went in a different direction.
“It was 20-17 after three quarters. We couldn’t break their press in the fourth quarter and made some bad decisions,” Hudson said. “Waterville does that to a lot of teams. But we played real good half-court defense.”
Waterville, led by Bangor Daily News All-Maine pick Sadie Garling, was one of the preseason favorites after reaching the Class B North championship game last season.
The Wildcats are trying to put together a bounce-back season after finishing 11-9 last winter. Until last year, since winning back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013, the Wildcats had never entered the tournament ranked lower than fifth and had reached the semifinals every year.
Seventh seed PI was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Hermon.
The Wildcats experienced growing pains after losing All-Maine first-team selection Emily Wheaton to graduation and having two potential starters shelved by season-ending injuries.
“I knew we needed to get off to a good start because we had a lot of home games,” said Hudson, whose team has played six of its first nine games at home.
“This team is very tough mentally and physically,” Hudson said. “They play real hard at both ends of the court and it has paid off.”
He said the home win over Waterville proved to his players what they are capable of.
Presque Isle features good size and has proven to be a good rebounding and defensive team. The Wildcats are giving up just 40 points per game.
Senior guard Maggie Castonguay said the team’s season-opening 48-41 home loss to Old Town served as a wakeup call.
“That pushed us in the right direction,” Castonguay said. “We all work hard and try to win every loose ball. Everyone crashes the boards.”
The team’s relentless approach has helped the Wildcats overcome most offensive lapses.
“It’s crazy how hard they dive onto the floor to get a loose ball. They’ll do everything they can to help us win,” Hudson said.
“They are a determined, gritty group, just the type of team you want to coach,” he added.
Castonguay said replacing six departed seniors meant the returnees had to elevate their games.
“We knew we would have different roles and everyone has stepped up well,” said Castonguay, who added that it is a close-knit team.
“We’re like a family,” she said.
Sophomore point guard Faith Sjoberg has been the team’s leading scorer, averaging close to 14 points per game. Castonguay is among the leading rebounders (5-6 per game) and averages approximately eight points, as does freshman forward Annalise Jandreau.
Senior Libby Moreau is a defensive catalyst and strong rebounder and Rebecca Rider, a 5-11 senior center, also asserts herself on the boards.
Hudson said PI has received important contributions off the bench from 5-11 junior center Rhylee Kinney, senior guard Alana Legassie, junior forward Meg Casavant and senior guard Anna Trombley.
The Wildcats face a demanding schedule the rest of the way with six road games and only three home games. That stretch begins Tuesday night with a contest at archrival Caribou.
“There are no slouches on our schedule,” Hudson said.
This story was updated on Jan. 7, 2020, at 1:40 p.m. to include the name of senior guard Libby Moreau, who was inadvertently omitted from the original story.