Shires right in ball games

By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    The Houlton Shiretowners are continuing to show improvement midway through the season, as they played down to the wire with top-ranked Mattanawcook Academy on Monday night in Lincoln. The Lynx scored the winning basket coming with less than 10 seconds left to edge the Shires, 54-52.
    “We played well,” said Houlton coach Rob Moran. “We lost to the number-one team in Class C. We were right there, we just didn’t quite pull it out.“
    The Shiretowners held a 52-50 lead on a 3-pointer by Kole Buzzeo, who finished with nine points, but the Lynx knotted the game, penetrating Houlton’s zone defense. The Shires came back and missed a shot before Nick L’Italien’s game-winner.
    “We had some chances missed,” said Moran. “It was one of our best games.”
    Leading scorers for the Shiretowners were Kyle Bouchard with 17 points and Dan Howe with 16 more.
    The Shiretowners are still struggling with their free-throw shooting (around 40 percent) and turnovers, but they are in 11th place in the recent Class C Heal Point standings, good enough for a playoff spot.
    The Houlton varsity boys showed poise in Friday’s physical game against visiting Schenck.
    Although Schenck led 8-3, Houlton finished the quarter with a 9-8 advantage. In the second half, Houlton outscored Schenck, 24-10, to take a 20-point lead en route to a 68-46 win.
    “We started with Kyle out on the wing and then we decided to put him down on the baseline,” Moran explained. “That seemed to work a little better. He is such a good passer, we got a lot of open shots from that.”
    Bouchard was the game-high scorer with 28 points, but distributed the ball well to his teammates and controlled the paint, as Kole Buzzeo hit for 13 points, Doug Dickison 11 and Dan Howe nine more. Bouchard, Buzzeo and Howe each hit three 3-pointers in the contest.
    “I thought we moved the ball excellent and people were unselfish,” Moran said. “We defended Schenck pretty well. We had a game plan in place and it worked. ”
    Last Wednesday, the Shiretowners worked hard against visiting Caribou, but came up short, 50-45.
    “Same old story, free throws and turnovers hurt us,” said Moran.
    The Shires stayed with the Vikings through the first three quarters, holding a three-point lead late in the third.
    “But, we really needed a stop,” said Moran. “Instead, we gave up an offensive rebound and two foul shots and they made them both. They were deadly from the line.”
     The Vikings outscored Houlton, 21-15, and went 15 for 19 from the foul line.
    Bouchard led Houlton with 26 points, including four 3-pointers, as his shooting kept the Shiretowners close in the final eight minutes.
    The Shiretowners will host Fort Kent at 7 p.m. on Friday and then travel to Madawaska for a 2:30 p.m. game on Saturday.
    Fort Kent defeated Houlton 57-55 in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 16.
    “It was very close up there with them,” said Moran. “It’s a game, if we play well, we should be right in it.”
    The Shires are still battling injuries, with Dickison’s ankle and Isaiha Straubel’s thumb, as well as losing sophomore Elyjah Crockett for the season with a broken leg. Crockett was the team’s number-one rebounder and second in team scoring.
    “We will do the best we can,” said Moran. “We still have lots of points left on our schedule. We just need to win some games.”