High school basketball season gets underway

By Gloria Austin  
Staff Writer
Girls roundup
    The high school basketball season kicked off last Friday night, and the Houlton Lady Shires opened with a win over Lee, while Southern Aroostook is 2-0 with victories over Limestone/MSSM and Washburn. GHCA and Katahdin are now 1-1 on the early season.
‘D’ – Katahdin’s Brady Curtis keeps his hands high while Central Aroostook’s Garrett Stiles looks to go up for a shot along the baseline in last Friday’s game in Stacyville. The Panthers defensive effort led to a 61-44 victory.
    Easton 50, GHCA 38 — On Monday in Easton, the Bears jumped out to a 10-point opening-quarter lead and held the same spread at halftime, 24-14. In the third, the Lady Eagles outscored Easton, 12-10, but still trailed by eight points, as the Bears picked up the win.
    Mariah Wiley led GHCA with 16 points, while Kiki Smart, Desiree Vargas and Lauren Bishop all added six points.
    Brooke Hammond and Carla Halvorson scored 14 points apiece for Easton, while Sydney Trask added 13 more in the win.
    GHCA 37, Van Buren 36 — It can be of the most stressful shots in basketball, the free throw … just the player and the net. Olivia Lee found herself in that position opening night, with just 13 seconds left, and the game tied at 36-all.
    Lee hadn’t scored in the game … that is until she sank the game-winning free throw, giving the Lady Eagles a one-point victory over visiting Van Buren at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
    The Lady Eagles opened the game ahead 11-7 and held a 22-13 halftime advantage. After the third, GHCA led 28-24 with the game going down to the wire.
    Emily Little powered GHCA with 18 points, while Wiley added 10 points.
    Katahdin 50, Ashland 32 — The Lady Cougars outscored host Ashland 16-5 in the second quarter of Monday’s game en route to the win. Katahdin led 28-13 at halftime and pushed their advantage in the third, 41-24.
    Olivia McNally paced Katahdin with a 22-point effort. Melissa Duffy and Myah Smallwood each had six points and Dani-Beth Cyr chipped in with five more.
    Anna Paradis led Ashland with 10 points.
    Schenck 46, Katahdin 33 — On Saturday, the Lady Cougars opened their season with a loss in East Millinocket. Katahdin trailed by eight at halftime, 22-14 and 32-25 after the third, as they were unable to make a run on the Wolverines.
CLOSELY GUARDED – Katahdin’s Kolby Gallagher looks to get by CAHS’ Logan McLaughlin, who guards Gallagher closely, during last Friday’s game in Stacyville.
    McNally scored 20 points in the losing effort.
    Southern Aroostook 68, Limestone/MSSM 33 — After a 20-2 start, the Lady Warriors cruised by host Limestone/MSSM on Monday. Southern Aroostook held a comfortable 35-17 halftime lead and led 58-22 after three periods.
    Liz Goodall had 20 of her 24 points in the first half, while Jasmine Rockwell netted 11 and Rochelle Nadeau put in 10 more for the winners.
    For Limestone, Victoria St. Pierre netted eight points.
    Southern Aroostook 49, Washburn 33 — The Lady Warriors trailed 9-8 to start the game on Saturday, but battled to an 18-16 halftime lead. In the third, Southern Aroostook extended their lead to five, 31-26, but outscored the Beavers, 18-7 in the final period.
    Goodall posted 25 points, along with Kaitlyn Sommers’ seven points and Nadeau’s six.
    Washburn was led by sophomore Becca Campbell’s 17 points.
    Houlton 52, Lee 30 — The Lady Shires built an 18-6 lead behind senior Vanessa Sanderson’s 12 first-quarter points en route to their season-opening win on Friday in Houlton. The Houlton girls took a hearty 35-13 halftime lead into the locker room and came out to continue their dominance over Lee in the third, 44-21.
    Sanderson led all scorers with 29 points and four assists, while Martha McPartland chalked up 10 points, four assists and four steals.
Boys wrapup
    GHCA 70,  Easton 55 — The Greater Houlton Christian Academy opened their game Monday night in Easton with a 16-10 lead, but at intermission, they had fallen behind 29-26. With second-half adjustments, the Eagles overtook the Bears — outscoring them 21-7 in the third — for a 47-36 lead en route to the win.
    Chad Duff led the Eagles with 16 points, while Jaron Gray and Ethan Holmes each knocked down 12 points and Zach Straubel netted 10 more.
    Reid Clark paced Easton’s offense with 16 points, while Luke Fuller and Jonah Bacon each added eight points.
    GHCA 54, Van Buren 35 — In last Friday’s game, the GHCA boys started with a 12-8 lead and held a slim 24-22 halftime advantage. However, in the third, GHCA outscored Van Buren 24-7 to break the game open.
    Duff led all scorers with 26 points, with nine coming in the pivotal third period.
    Madawaska 64, Houlton 56 — In their season opener on Saturday in Madawaska, the Owls jumped to an early lead and held off the Shiretowners. The Owls held a 35-26 halftime advantage and a seven-point lead after the third, 49-42.
    Jordan Codrey led Houlton with 17 points, while Micah Goetsch netted 13 and Josh Bragan chipped in with 11 more.
CRASHING – Southern Aroostook’s Pat Goodall grabs a rebound during Monday night’s game against Hodgdon. Working the boards were Hodgdon’s Dan McGillicuddy and SACS’ Garry Sutherland.
    CAHS 61, Katahdin 44 — The Panthers of Mars Hill took over the Cougars’ lair last Friday, jumping to a 18-10 first-quarter advantage and behind defensive pressure outscored Katahdin, 16-8 to build a 16-point halftime advantage.
    The Panthers held control in the third, 47-25 en route to their season-opening win.
    Mike McClung paced CAHS with 19 points, while Logan McLaughlin scored 13 and Brendan York added 11.
    For Katahdin, Brandon Robinson netted 19 and Lucas Craig chipped in with nine.