At Howland, Junior Gabe Reed scored a game and career high 18 points to propel the Penobscot Valley boys over Penquis Valley 41-37. He also converted both ends of a one-and-one with 11 seconds left in the game to give the home team the breathing room they needed.
After a slow start to the game by both teams, the offense started clicking for the Howlers outscoring the Patriots 15-7 in the first quarter. Four players scored, including seven from Andrew Williams and four from Reed. Penobscot Valley would hold a nine point lead right before the half, before Penquis got within six at 22-16 when Dylan McKenzie knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer. Ryan Thompson led the way in the second quarter for PVHS with four points.
The third quarter was pretty even, with the Howlers holding a 12-10 advantage during the frame. In the fourth, the Howlers would hold a 10 point lead with only 3 minutes to go. That is when the Patriots defense, especially senior Alvin Robshaw, turned up the pressure. Over the next two and half minutes, Robshaw had three steals that he converted into layups cutting the deficit to four. A Nate Lovejoy steal and Max Woodman basket made it a two point game with just 11 seconds to go. Penquis was forced to foul Reed, who calmly iced the game at the line, leaving only a Patriot missed three-pointer and a Howler rebound to finish the game.
In addition to 18 from Reed, Williams finished with 13 (three 3’s) and Thompson had eight points and 11 rebounds. Gabe Castonguay rounded out the scoring with two. The Howlers improve to 3-1 and travel to Millinocket to face Stearns next Tuesday.
Penquis was led by Robshaw who had 11 points, and by Mikal Sickler along with L.J. Shaw who had seven a piece. Other scorers for the Patriots were Max Wells with six, while Nate Lovejoy and Dylan McKenzie had three points each. Penquis drops to 0-2 and are scheduled to play at Schenck on Thursday afternoon.
