BANGOR- The Presque Isle Wildcats would build a 22 point first half lead, and rolled to a 63-36 Class B Big East boys basketball win over the John Bapst Crusaders at the Cross Insurance Center on Monday evening.
John Bapst (0-3) had a pair of real early leads, with the second one at 5-4. Presque Isle would take over after that finishing the opening quarter on a 12-0 run and then extending that by scoring the first two baskets of the second (16-0). Overall when Malachi Cummings knocked down two free throws the run was 25-2 as the Wildcats had taken a 29-7 lead. They led 29-14 at the halftime break. PI (1-2) continued to roll in the second half, putting eight players in the scorebook and the 27 point victory was the largest lead of the night. The win also gives new head coach Dillon Kingsbury his first career win at the school.
Cummings led the way in the Presque Isle win with 21 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and nine assists. Jack Buck had 14 points and seven rebounds. Wyatt Young and Dawson Beaulieu also added six points a piece. The Wildcats had 31 rebounds and shot 9-17 from the free throw line. Mark Gaetani led John Bapst in the loss with 10 points and seven rebounds. Jack Mason also had eight points and six rebounds. Leading scorer Jon Pangburn was held to just one three-point field goal that he hit in the first quarter. The Crusaders had 21 rebounds and shot 8-17 from the line. John Bapst returns to action Tuesday night at home against Houlton, while Presque Isle plays at Ellsworth on Thursday.
PI (1-2) 16 13 16 18- 63
JB (0-3) 5 9 12 10- 36
Recap/photos/video
is courtesy of Chris Lessner
