By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — A stellar all-around effort Friday evening catapulted the Houlton boys into the Eastern Class C championship for the second consecutive season. Houlton earned a spot in the regional championship via a 51-38 victory over Calais at the Bangor Auditorium.
Sophomore Kyle Bouchard led the Shires with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior Nick Guiod contributed 11 points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals in one of his finest games in Bangor.
For Calais, Devin Hall was the top performer with 14 points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals.
“We didn’t execute and were a little too soft with the ball tonight,” Houlton coach Rob Moran said. “Fortunately, we made some shots early. When you do that, and can get the ball to your big guy (Bouchard) inside, it certainly helps.”
Calais played a slow, methodical game in the first half and was the first to break the scoring ice in the first minute of play as Hall converted a layup. Bouchard countered with a terrific move down low, fighting off a triple team for the difficult basket. Hall connected again on a jumper, but then it was all Houlton for the rest of the quarter as Kole Buzzeo hit a pair of jumpers, followed by another Bouchard basket in the paint for an 8-4 lead at the end of the first period.
Impressively, the Shires did not commit a single foul in the first quarter.
Houlton pushed its lead to 19-7 at halftime, as the Shire’s defense held Calais to many single-shot opportunities.
Calais changed things up to start the second half, using a full-court press that bothered Houlton and allowed the Blue Devils to get back into the game. Calais managed to cut the lead to seven (31-24) after three quarters, and actually got the lead down to four (35-31) with 5:18 to play.
“I’m glad they didn’t (press),” Moran said. “We probably should have spent a little more time preparing for a full-court press. We prepared more for a half-court press.”
Houlton managed to break the Blue Devils pressure and then went on a 14-4 run in the final five minutes to close out the game, during which time the Shires received scoring from four different players — Jake Drew, Guiod, Bouchard and Dan Swallow. Swallow’s basket came off a beautiful no-look pass from Bouchard.
Down the stretch, Bouchard converted four of six foul shots, while Guiod went three for five from the line to help ice the game. Guiod, sporting a newly shaved Mohawk for the game, said he wasn’t surprised that Calais tried to slow things down in the first half.
“We knew that they couldn’t keep up with us in the running game,” he said.
As for the haircut?
“We were all having a team dinner yesterday (Thursday) and I told the guys I wanted to spice things up,” Guiod said. “Jake cut me a mean Mohawk, freehanded. You like it?”
HOULTON (51)
Putnam, Cone, Buzzeo 4 2-2 11, Crockett, Guiod 4 3-5 11, Bouchard 6 6-8 18, Swallow 2 0-1 4, Straubel, Howe, Holmes 1 0-0 2, Drew 2 1-2 5, Crane. Totals: 19 12-18 51. 3-pointer — Buzzeo.
CALAIS (38)
Paul 0 1-2 1, Niles 2 1-4 5, Diffin, Johnson 3 2-6 8, Hold 1 0-1 2, Hall 7 0-0 14, Newell 2 0-3 5, McFadden 0 2-2 2, Leeman 0 1-1 1, Thornton, Ayers. Totals: 15 7-19 38. 3-pointer Newell.
Shiretowners 8 11 12 20 — 51
Blue Devils 4 3 17 14 — 38
