Things are off to a good start for Aroostook County basketball teams on Saturday in Bangor.
After the Wisdom girls of St. Agatha won the girls Class S North championship earlier in the morning, the Easton boys battled back for a come-from behind win over Jonesport-Beals to take home the Class S boys regional title.
Easton won 58-42 after heading into halftime down by five points against the Royals.
Easton sophomore had led the Bears, and the entire tournament, in scoring through his team’s first two rounds. He had a quieter game on Saturday with 11 points, but the supporting cast for Easton stepped up in a big way to help the Bears secure the regional championship win.
Senior guard Raiden Cochran led the scoring for Easton with 16 points and junior forward Jamie MacKay added 10 points along with some of the game’s most important hustle plays. MacKay took charge midway through the third quarter as Easton fought back control of the game after trailing for much of it up to that point.
“We knew that we needed to play stronger defense, and we needed to get out in transition,” Cochran told WHOU about how his team fought back in the game. “That’s our biggest thing. We’re the fastest team around, so we just needed to get out in transition and tire them out.”
Cochran said the Bears had their sights on a trophy to start the year.
“At the beginning of the season, coach asked us what our goals were, and we said to get hardware,” Cochran said. “So here we are.”
It also helps that the Easton team is incredibly close.
“We’ve been a family since seventh grade year, basically,” Cochran added in that same postgame interview. “And we’ve grown up together and we’ve played every sport together, so we’re tight.”
Sophomore guard Anderson Alley led the scoring for top-seeded Jonesport-Beals with 15 points, followed by junior forward Isaiah Robinson with 10.
Easton, the No. 2 team in Class S North, will now face the Valley boys of Bingham in the Class S state championship game on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 12:45 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center.
Cochran said the Easton team is thinking about it as a 10-year reunion of sorts, noting that the Bears lost to Valley in the state championship in 2016.
“But we’re looking to change that,” Cochran said.
Easton and Wisdom’s wins to start the regional championship action in Bangor on Saturday ensures that Aroostook County teams will leave the Cross Insurance Center with at least three titles. And that total could stretch up to five depending on how the rest of the day plays out.
The Madawaska boys have a chance at the Class D North title later on Saturday, and the Class C boys title game features two county teams in Caribou and Fort Kent. That guarantees at least one more regional championship for The County on Saturday.
