Hawks overtake Shires

By Gloria Austin  
Staff Writer
    Though Hodgdon’s offense wasn’t executed down the stretch the way coach Jerry Adams anticipated, his Hawks recovered and pulled away for a 38-28 win, and Adams is hoping this win carries his team.
    This the first time the Hawks had defeated in Houlton in the last six years.
    The Hawks employed a 1-3-1 zone against the Shires forcing them to the perimeter and sealing out their interior game.
DRIVE – Houlton’s Jordan Codrey drives the baseline by Hodgdon’s Andrew McGillicuddy during last week’s game in Hodgdon. The Hawks defeated the Shires, 38-28.
    “We’ve been working on the 1-3-1, and I thought that it won us the ball game,” said Adams. “It caused them to take some bad shots.”
    Houlton coach Mike Fogarty agreed.
    “We struggled putting the ball in the hole early,” he said. “Hodgdon’s 1-3-1 required us to take some outside shots that we were unable to knock down.”
    In front of a sold out crowd, the Hawks pulled to a 6-0 lead to start the game and by the 3:06 mark in the second period, they held onto a 17-10 advantage. Staying with their game plan, the Hawks built a 13-point cushion, 29-16, with 2:17 left in the third.
    “Whenever these two teams meet, regardless of records, it’s a climatic game,” Adams said. “Our team has a tendency to get ahead in ball games and then we cannot close it out. They are getting better at it, but we let Houlton battle back in.”
    Trying to kill the clock, the Hawks attempted to work their three-man weave, but it failed.
    “We have been practicing it,” Adams said, “but they are still not strong enough to do it.”
    The Hawks usually are facing foul trouble in many ball games, so it’s not an offense they run consistently. So, with his starters in the game, Adams rolled the dice with it. Watching the Shires close the scoring gap, 32-28 with 2:55 left in the fourth, Adams called a timeout to settle the troops.
    “We were able to make a little bit of run at the end [of the game] with some full-court pressure,” Fogarty said. “But, we were unable to get over the hump.”
    After a stern discussion in the huddle, the Hawks responded when senior Chris Williams drained a 3-pointer — which Fogarty felt was the final nail in the Shires’ coffin — and the Hawks defense kept the Shires from scoring the rest of the way.
    “The kids played with their hearts,” said Adams. “They played hard and they hit the right shots at the right time.”
    Fogarty found the silver lining in the loss for his Shires.
    “On the bright side, we had 19 offensive rebounds,” he said. “Again, we were successful in taking advantage of those rebounds. Their size definitely impacted on our outside shooting.”
    The Shires were forced to look for more perimeter shooting as Dan and Andrew McGillicuddy, along with Jake Tidd and Josh Hudson blocked the Shires from establishing their post game.
    “I feel Dan and Andrew played one of their best ball games defensively,” Adams said, “and Jake brought down some key rebounds, as well. I thought Hudson stepped up big with 13 rebounds and seven points, too. Our game plan was to stop their penetration, and I felt we did that very well.”
    Adams said Williams led the team by picking his time to execute, without hurrying the offense and he was pleased with A.J. Acott’s contributions off the bench, as well.
    “Chris hit the right shots at the right time,” he said. “A.J. gave me good minutes. He is one of the purest shooters on the team and the more I can use him on the floor, the more confidence he is developing. I am expecting good things from him the rest of the year.”
    Williams led Hodgdon with 14 points, while Hudson and D. McGillicuddy each grabbed 13 rebounds.    Jordan Bragan led the Shiretowners with 15 points, along with Jordan Codrey’s 10 points.
    The Hawks are in ninth position in the latest Heal Point standings, and it’s a pleasant surprise.
    “We play a tough schedule, which builds us up to where, if we make the tournament, we are ready for it,” he said. “We play top teams all year long and that doesn’t bother me. I would rather have an 8-8 record against a good schedule versus a 15-3 record and playing a weak one.”
    As the season progresses, Adams is looking for his team to rally and play a more disciplined game,
with players understanding their roles.
CONTESTED – Houlton’s Ben Duff is contested by Hodgdon’s Josh Hudson on his way to the hoop during last Wednesday’s game. The Hawks held on for a 38-28 victory.
    “The expectation level has changed,” he said. “The kids are beginning to understand some are going to be role players and some are not. We are starting to get the ball into the hands of the ones who need to have it to score.”
    Adams said in his team’s preview, every member of the team is a point on a star. There is no individual who can stand on his own. It will be a total team effort for the Hawks to achieve success.
    “The whole team is a star,” Adams said. “They are starting to get a few Ws and I hope we get stronger.”