Cougar boys crush Ramblers

DIXFIELD- The Dirigo boys' basketball team seized the momentum from the onset and played its own style in a one sided 47-14 win against Winthrop in a Mountain Valley Conference event at Defoe Gymnasium.

Ben Holmes led the way with a career-high 14 points. The 6-3 junior was six of eight from the floor, had six rebounds and two steals.

Juniors Josh Turbide and Cody St. Germain scored eight and seven points, respectively. St. Germain also hauled down nine rebounds and Caleb Turner dished out five assists

The Cougars jumped out to a 17-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and refused to let up. They led 34-9 at halftime and emptied their bench.

Winthrop was just a mere shell of itself, compared to the teams that former coaches Dennis Darcus and Dave Poulin had assembled in previous years.

Dirigo assumed control and scored the easy baskets in the opening six minutes of the first quarter. The team had 12 steals, mostly in the first half.

Dirigo made 18-49 shots from the floor, with a majority of inside opportunities. The play in the paint produced numerous fouls, however, the Cougars failed to capitalize. They were six of 18 from the foul line. The Ramblers only made one free throw in the entire game.

Winthrop played a zone in an attempt to slow the pace of the game, but the Cougars created a turnover on nearly every possession. Turbide drained two three pointers, while Spencer Ross, Jake Dowland and Holmes each made one trey.

Arik Fenstermacher made two baskets, while Hunter Ross, Mitch Stanley and Turner each had two points. Robbie Babb, Nick Blodgett and TJ Frost also saw action.

The second half turned into a slow down game with only 18 total points. In the third quarter, Dirigo had five points and the Ramblers failed to score. The Ramblers shot a cool 17 percent and had 14 turnovers.

The Dirigo girls lost 38-32 to Winthrop in the opener. The Lady Cougars led 24-16 at halftime, but Winthrop coach Ray Convery, formerly of Dixfield, made the correct adjustments and a 10-3 run cut the deficit to one point after three quarters.

Senior Hannah Knight scored 12 points (two treys) and Alyssa Wade added nine points. Paige Murphy and Angela Ronan were the only other Cougar scorers with five each.