The No. 4 Orono Red Riots kicked off their repeat bid for the state crown with a hard-fought 55-47 victory over No. 5 Caribou on Saturday in the Class B North boys regional quarterfinals at the Cross Insurance Center.
Leading 48-47 with 35 seconds to go, Orono junior Will Francis hit two clutch free throws and then made a high-flying block on the other end, where senior Pierce Walston recovered the loose ball and found senior Ben Francis for an emphatic and-one play to seal it.
After a Caribou timeout and missed 3-point attempt, Orono completed another football pass to Ben Francis in transition, who beat the buzzer for his 15th and 16th points of the game.
Next up, Orono will play the winner of No. 1 Ellsworth (15-3) and No. 9 Winslow (12-7) at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 21.
The reigning state champs never trailed after the first quarter, but had a 26-17 halftime lead cut down to 38-35 in the third quarter. Orono’s veteran leadership in the Francis brothers and Mr. Basketball candidate Walston showed in the fourth, who slowed the game down to a chess match and forced the Vikings to begin fouling.
Walston finished with 12 points, 10 assists and two steals, Ben Francis finished with 16 points and five offensive rebounds, and Will Francis tacked on 11 points and three steals. Combined, the trio went 8-for-12 from the free throw line.
Leading all scorers was Caribou junior forward Tristan Robbins (18 points, two assists and two offensive rebounds). The Vikings derived 24 of their points from beyond the arc, with senior guard Dylan Bouchard, junior Kaymen Sargent and sophomore Owen Corrigan nailing two 3-pointers apiece. Corrigan finished with 10 points, two assists and one offensive rebound.
With just two seniors on their roster, Caribou finished the year with an impressive 14-5 record, splitting both of its regular season series with regional semifinalists Old Town (16-3) and Orono (16-3). Robbins and Sargent combined to score 28 points per game this year, and as a team Caribou averaged 59.3 ppg while allowing 50.3 ppg.
