BANGOR- Malachi Cummings scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half on Friday night, as the #7 Presque Isle Wildcats stunned the #2 Winslow Black Raiders 65-45 in a Class B boys quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center.
Presque Isle (12-8) held one early lead 4-3, before Winslow pushed ahead with five straight points and also got five from Jayson Reynolds as they built what was their biggest lead of the night 16-10. The Wildcats then scored the final four points of the opening eight minutes, and also scored the first five points of the second quarter for a 19-16 advantage (9-0 run). The Black Raiders scored their only four points of the period to go back up 20-19, but PI would take a three point edge to the locker room 23-20 at the half after scoring the final four points.
Winslow only had one more lead in the game at 29-28 with 4:50 left in the third quarter, helped by seven points from Andrew Poulin. Cummings and Presque Isle then took over as the senior guard had 10 points in the frame, and an 8-0 run to end the quarter that also included a last second three-pointer by Brady Castonguay put them ahead to stay at 42-34. The Wildcats would keep pulling away, and outscored the Black Raiders 23-11 in the fourth for the final 20 point margin.
Cummings added five rebounds to his point total as Presque Isle now has a seven game win streak. Dawson Beaulieu added 11 points, that also included 7-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats hit 15-21 from the charity stripe in the final period to help salt it away (23-31 in the game). Brent Greenlaw contributed seven points, Jack Buck and Jack Hallett had six each, Castonguay added five points, and Wyatt Young chipped in three points. Buck also had 12 rebounds, and Hallett had seven while teaming up to help shut down one of the top players in the state in Reynolds. The Wildcats advance to a 2 p.m. Wednesday semifinal to battle Orono. Poulin led Winslow in the loss with 17 points (four 3-pointers). Jason Reynolds was held to nine points (just four after the first quarter), but did grab 13 rebounds. Matthew Quirion and Braden Rodrique had eight points a piece. Quirion also hauled in 10 rebounds. Lucas Boucher also had three points, as the Black Raiders end their season at 17-2 and had their 15 game streak snapped.
Recap and photos by Chris Lessner/Videos by Marc Calnan and Gabe Nason
