The best performance turned in on Tuesday during the regional high school basketball tournament in Bangor wasn’t a single player or even a single team. It was a basketball family from Aroostook County.
As the Caribou Vikings look to follow up state championships a year ago for both the boys and girls teams, there is once again a Corrigan on both rosters. And they both had big games to start this year’s Class C North tournament.
Sophomore Quinn Corrigan scored 22 points — 17 in the second half — in the Caribou girls comeback win over Dexter Tuesday night. She made several key plays in the second half and overtime for her Caribou team, not unlike the heroic role she played at the end of last year’s state final. Corrigan made two last-second free throws to seal the championship for the Vikings a year ago.
She agreed that experience may have helped down the stretch in the close game against Dexter.
“I think it might help a little bit with the nerves,” she said with a smile.
And her older brother Owen Corrigan, also a state champion last year, has morphed into the boys team’s primary offensive weapon this season. He had 26 points Tuesday night in a comfortable 73-47 win over Calais.
“We really turned up the defense in the second half,” he said after the victory. “That’s how we like to play.”
And believe it or not, the siblings aren’t the only Corrigan who is front and center for the Vikings. Their uncle, Kyle Corrigan, also coaches the boys team.
Asked if he had thoughts on which of the siblings is a better basketball player, the uncle and coach laughed.
“I’ll never lean one way or the other on who is better,” Kyle Corrigan said. “They are both unique in their own ways.”
But he does appreciate the chance to watch them grow on and off the court.
“I’m really impressed with their composure on the floor,” Corrigan added about his niece and nephew. “As a coach and an uncle I’ve been able to watch them not only grow up throughout the years, but I’ve been able to watch them grow more confidently in themselves and their roles on their teams too. It’s really a joy to watch and a joy to coach.”
And he was proud of the way they both played on Tuesday as well.
I thought Owen played really throughout the game not only scoring but applying pressure defensively with Carsen (Richards) and Declan (Miller) and then really moving the basketball on the offensive end to get the best available shot,” the coach added. “Quinn did the same thing. She made plays when she needed to for her team and her teammates really stepped up as well throughout the game.”
Another of the siblings’ relatives, grandfather Ken Albert, was among the legion of Caribou family members and fans helping to power the Vikings with support from the stands.
“It’s great, especially when it’s your grandkids on each team,” Albert said about the excitement around both teams.
And as that excitement continues in the Class C North semifinals on Thursday, the Corrigans will continue to be at the center of it.
