Tristen Robbins is ready for a rematch against Orono after the Red Riots bounced his Caribou team from the Class B North tournament last year.
Senior forward Robbins and the top-seeded Vikings passed a tough test Wednesday night provided by the boys from Mount Desert Island, escaping with a 53-41 win after heading into the final quarter with a two-point lead.
Their reward? A rematch with No. 3 Orono in the regional championship game on Saturday.
Asked about that rematch after the win over MDI, Robbins didn’t hold back — particularly in praising his team’s next opponent.
“I want it, I want the revenge,” Robbins said about the matchup. “But they’re a great team, they played great tonight, without their point guard Brady Hews. [Bergen Soderberg] can shoot it, Will [Francis] played phenomenal tonight. They play hard defense, and their whole roster is just tough. They have a great coach in Coach [Ed] Kohtala. And it’s going to be a good game.”
Caribou’s game against MDI Wednesday night was a good game too, with the Vikings needing a strong fourth quarter to finally run away with the win. They outscored the Trojans by 10 points in the fourth, buoyed in part by some timely baskets by Dawson St. Pierre, who scored all of his six points in the fourth quarter.
Kaymen Sargent led the scoring for Caribou with 16 points, followed by Robbins and Landen Belanger with 12. James Witham had 13 to lead MDI.
Robbins was asked about Caribou’s efforts to defend the talented MDI sophomore guard, and explained efforts to try to move Witham off the 3-point line and force him to take tough two-point shots.
“He gets to his spots, he does it very well,” Robbins said of Witham. He also credited MDI’s strength when asked about the importance of defensive rebounding in the game.
“They’re a big, strong team. They’re a football school, and we just have to be dogs,” Robbins said.
“We have to go get every single board, we have to team rebound,” he added, highlighting how that can lead to transition points.
Robbins said the Vikings are at their best when running the floor, and now they’re running right into another matchup with the Red Riots. The Class B North regional championship will be played on Friday at 7:45 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Orono also prevailed Wednesday night in a close contest with neighboring rival Old Town. Senior forward Will Francis led the game with 24 points and the Red Riots got the win despite missing starting point guard Brady Hews due to illness. Orono has won the previous two Class B state titles.
