By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The Houlton and Hodgdon girls played each other twice last week, with Houlton squeaking out two victories.
On Monday in Houlton, the game came down to free-throw shooting, as Tori Hanson made two to put Houlton ahead and Natalie Hill another two to keep the lead, as Houlton won 41-37.
Houlton went six for nine from the foul line in the fourth quarter, finishing 11 for 15 overall in the game.
Pioneer Times photograph/Joseph Cyr
REBOUND — Hodgdon’s Lacey McQuarrie pulls down the rebound, while Houlton’s Katie Condon and Hodgdon’s Jennah Steamer are in on the action.
Houlton coach Shawn Graham noted his team got off to a good start, but then the “wheels fell off” as three starters were in foul trouble early.
“I thought our bench (Jessy Dickison, Alana Pratt and Bre Longstaff) came up huge in the second quarter, as we had to sit Hill, [Sam] Keegan and Hanson. They did a great job giving us an edge at halftime,” said Graham.
Pratt hit a big shot, while Longstaff had a couple of huge shots, said Graham, and “Jessy defended exceptionally well, which is usually the case for her,” he added.
At the end of one, Houlton led 13-10 and at halftime the Lady Shires held a 24-22 advantage. After three, the game was 33-32 Houlton setting up a dramatic final stanza.
“In the third quarter, we came out in a 1-3-1 defense keying on Wiley and at the same time felt it would help us from getting into any more foul trouble.”
But Hodgdon hit back-to-back 3-pointers from Mariah Wiley and Lacey McQuarrie, which eventually forced Houlton back to man defense.
“It was a little earlier than I had hoped,” said Graham. “But it did pay off as we went on a run of our own after a timeout and went back up by a point before the third ended.”
With a one-point edge, Graham felt it was his team’s turn to control the tempo.
“As long as you have the lead, you have the opportunity to dictate what the other team plays for a defense,” he said. “We simply wanted them to play man because we felt we had a substantial advantage if they came out of the zone. That zone defense is their bread and butter, but when you’re behind, you don’t have that choice.”
Freshman Katie Condon led Houlton with nine points, eight rebounds and six steals, while Marina Cameron tossed in eight points and brought down eight rebounds. Hill finished with eight points; Hanson, six; Keegan and Longstaff each had four, with Pratt adding a basket.
“I’m very proud of the team for staying both physically and mentally tough,” said Graham. “It was another huge point-worthy win for us.”
Wiley paced Hodgdon with a game-high 16 points, along with McQuarrie’s dozen. Haley Gardiner and Jennah Steamer had five and four points, respectively.
In the prelim game, Houlton won 65-23.
On Saturday, the Lady Hawks pulled out a win against visiting Limestone/MSSM, 47-45.
Wiley paced Hodgdon with a game-high 25 points, while McQuarrie added eight. Contributing in the game were Karissa Harris with seven points, while Howell had three points and McKensie Palmer and Gardiner each added a basket.
Hodgdon led at all the breaks: 9-8; 25-19; and 38-36, hanging on for the win.
The Lady Hawks fell to Van Buren, 57-47 last Thursday in Van Buren, as Parise Rossignol scored a game-high 36 points.
Gardiner led Hodgdon with 18 points, while Wiley added 11 and McQuarrie netted 10. Lauren Howell and Steamer each had four points.
At the breaks, Van Buren led 14-6; 28-21; and 41-35.
Last Wednesday at Hodgdon, it was a waiting game. The Houlton girls utilized holding the ball to offset Hodgdon’s packed zone defense.
“I really liked our zone,” said Farrar. “It was a new one for us, but I thought the girls really played it the way we wanted.”
At the buzzer, the Lady Shires took a 45-41 win.
“We certainly struggled against their zone,” added Graham. “We weren’t shooting the ball with any consistency from the perimeter so we tried to get the ball inside a bit more, but being undersized, that posed some problems for us as well.
“I felt our best opportunity to win the ball game was to get the lead and then try to bring them out and play man defense,” he added. “We weren’t necessarily trying to stall, we just wanted them to come out and pick us up. It was only a one-possession game, so we gambled a bit.”
Though both coaches were surprised at the other’s strategy, each one can learn from the game.
“We can just take a positive from it that maybe, we bothered them a little,” said Farrar.
And Graham was surprised they didn’t come out of their zone earlier.
“They really only needed one turnover and a score and they could have got back into the zone,” he said. “No question, we rolled the dice and fortunately for us it paid off as it was a very point-worthy win.”
Condon led Houlton with 20 points, while Hill had 11 more. Cameron added seven and Hanson five more.
For Hodgdon, Wiley tossed in a dozen points, with Howell adding 11 more. Gardiner and McQuarrie each had eight points. Gardiner also hauled in eight rebounds.
The Lady Hawks led through the first half, 12-10 and 24-23. Houlton then took a third-quarter lead and held on.
In other games last week:
Katahdin 58, GHCA 57 — On Saturday in Hodgdon, Megan Merry keyed Katahdin with 10 third-quarter points to extend Katahdin’s lead to 12 points, 44-32, but, then the Eagles made their comeback to put the squeeze on.
Merry finished with 18 points, while Ashley Randall netted 13; Molly Cunningham 12 and Morgan Livezey, 11 more.
For GHCA, Olivia Lord dropped in 15 points, while Colby Walker tossed in 14; eighth-grader Rylee Warman had 12 and Destinee Neureuther, 10 more.
Katahdin led 10-8 to start the game and 25-20 at halftime.
Southern Aroostook 53, Limestone/MSSM 46 — Last Wednesday, the Lady Warriors dropped Limestone/MSSM behind Sable Altvater’s double-double (22 points and 13 rebounds). Jess Tucker netted 18 points; Mataya Hartin, four points with 12 rebounds. Desirae Dubois had six points and Kristen Tarr added three.
The game was tied after the first quarter 10-all, but Limestone/MSSM took the halftime advantage 27-25. In the third, Southern Aroostook built a 42-34 lead en route to the win.
Southern Aroostook 40, East Grand 21 — Last Thursday in Danforth, the Southern Aroostook girls extended their seven-point lead to 22-10 at halftime. At the end of three, Southern Aroostook held a 36-16 advantage.
Altvater knocked down 23 points to pace Southern Aroostook. Hartin dropped in six points, while Tarr and Tucker each scored four points. Dubois added three more for the winners.
For East Grand, Chelsea Winiarski led East Grand with six points. Shaunna Beaudoin and Kim Stoddard each had four points and Allie McEwen, three more.
Southern Aroostook 36, Washburn 100 — The score tells the story of how Monday night’s game in Dyer Brook was played.
As Southern Aroostook coupled unforced turnovers with Washburn’s defensive press, they fell behind very quickly 24-6 to open the game. By halftime, Washburn’s speed and aggressive drive led to a 61-18 cushion.
In the second half, the Lady Warriors continued to struggle and turn the ball over, as Washburn capitalized for a 74-28 third-quarter lead.
Mackenzie Worcester paced the winners with 24 points and Carmen Bragg added 20.
For Southern Aroostook, Tucker tossed in 10 points, while Altvater added eight. Other scorers were Dubois and Tarr with five each; Hartin with four and Ria Kinney and Beth Bishop a basket each.
Katahdin 27, Penobscot Valley 51 — Last Thursday in Stacyville, Katahdin fell behind by 10 points at halftime, 23-13, and were outscored 14-2 in the third.
Merry paced Katahdin with 10 points and Randall chipped in with eight more. Livezey added five points, while Cunningham and Makayla Patterson dropped in two points each.
Katahdin 41, Ashland 47 — Monday in Ashland, the free-throw line proved crucial, as the Hornets went 15 for 20 overall.
Ashland led at the breaks: 10-7; 19-17; and 37-29.
Livezey keyed Katahdin with 10 points, while Randall tossed in nine. Merry added seven, while Delaney Fitzpatrick and Patterson each had six and Cunningham scored three more.
East Grand 27, Shead 39 — It was a tight first half in Eastport last Saturday, as the Lady Vikes held a 15-14 advantage. In the third, the tide changed with Shead taking a 28-20 lead and pulling away for the win.
Beaudoin scored 11 points for East Grand, along with Stoddard and Elisha Farley’s six points apiece.
The high school girls’ teams will finish out their regular season over the next two weeks before playoffs.
