Houlton 5-6 grade boys competitive

The Houlton 5-6 grade boys Aroostook Youth Basketball League team has played two tournaments recently. The boys played in the Orono Tournament and came home runners-up, while on Feb. 19, they won the East Millinocket Tournament.
    In Orono, the Shires were involved in Pool Play on Saturday. In their first game, they defeated Orrington, 59-25, followed by a slim victory over Orono, 34-33 in their second contest. To end the day, the team overpowered Calais, 53-29.
On Sunday, the Shires played in a single elimination tournament, taking a 54-9 win over Brewer in the first playoff game. In their second playoff game, the Shires topped Coastal Thunder, 43-37. In the championship, the Shires met Orono again. This time, Orono came away with a 35-32 victory.
The Shires are 21-1 overall. They will play at the Bangor YMCA on March 12-13; Old Town Y on March 19-20 and finish with a tournament in Houlton on April 2-3.
The Shires went undefeated to capture the title at the East Millinocket Basketball Tournament.
The undefeated Shires faced Medway in the championship game on Sunday — a team that they had defeated earlier — and came away with a 38-18 win.
Medway led 6-5 to start the game and Houlton came back to tie the contest at halftime, 12-all. In the third, the Shires led 15-14 with 3:39 remaining in the quarter when coach Paul Cleary called a timeout. The Shires were motivated after the timeout, going on a 13-0 scoring run to take a 28-14 advantage. In the fourth quarter, Houlton pulled away for the win.
Jacob Worthley and Cam Graham each had 11 points for Houlton, while Joe Dobbins netted six. Colby Callnan and Cam Cleary both had four points and Zach Hagan added two more.
The tournament started with Houlton taking on a “tall” Lincoln club, said coach Cleary. But, the size advantage didn’t bother the Houlton boys who cruised to a 41-14 victory.
Graham was the game-high scorer with 20 points, while Worthley racked up nine; Dobbins and Cleary each with four; Hagan and Callnan chipped in with two points apiece.
“In the second game, we took on a talented, but younger Woodland team that started third- and fourth-graders,” said Cleary.
Houlton took advantage of their speed and height to come away with a 47-9 win.
“All of our players got to play and everyone scored,” Cleary added.
Leading the way for Houlton was Worthley with 11 points; Dobbins and Callnan, eight each; Nate Mooers, Graham and Cleary, six points apiece; Nick Perfitt, Hagan and Luke Porter all added two points.
In their next game, Houlton matched up against undefeated Medway for the right to play in the championship game.
Medway took an 8-4 lead to start the game, but Houlton turned up the defensive pressure to erase the four-point deficit for a 14-10 halftime advantage. Houlton extended their lead in the third, 24-14. But, Medway stormed back and tied the game, 30-all, with 11 seconds left.
Houlton’s Graham was fouled with eight ticks left on the clock. Graham hit the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Shires a 31-30 advantage. But, Medway came down and tried to score, but it was a Dobbins’ block with 0.8 seconds that saved the game for Houlton.
Worthley paced Houlton with 10 points, while Dobbins tossed in eight points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked 11 shots. Perfitt added six points, while Cleary had four; Callnan, two and Graham one big free throw.