Boys hoops: Defending Class C state champs rolling with early lopsided wins

The defending Class C state champions made their first two games look very easy. The Houlton Shiretowners pummeled both their opponents, Fort Kent, 75-39 and Mattanawcook Academy, 86-48. In both contests, Houlton’s All-Maine player, senior Kyle Bouchard, sat down in the fourth quarter of each game.
On Saturday at home, the Shiretowners used a well-balanced scoring attack, which allowed each of the players a chance to get into the game.
Bouchard paced Houlton with 15 points, followed by senior Christian Crane with 14 more. Senior Dan Howe is back in the lineup this year after a knee injury kept him out last year and scored 12 points, while senior teammate Jake Condon tossed in 10 points.
Fort Kent was led by Matt Daigle with 15 points and Ryan Chasse added 11.
The Shiretowners took an 18-7 opening lead and held a comfortable halftime cushion of 41-16. In the third, Houlton continued to roll, 63-30.
Jacob Drew had six points in the game, while Garrett Ring knocked down five; Noah Holmes, four; Cameron Graham, three and Jake Brown, Jacob Worthley and Jared Fox all had a hoop.
In their home season opener last Friday, Bouchard handled the scoring load and board work for the Shiretowners with 42 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lynx scored the first four points of the game before Houlton took control on an 18-0 run to lead 29-11 after the first quarter of play. At halftime, Houlton was well in the lead by a score of 50-20.
Drew tossed in 13 points and Crane finished with 10 more for the Shiretowners. Worthley had seven and Brown chipped in with five. Howe scored three, while Jake Donovan, Holmes and Fox all had a basket.
The defending state champion Class D Hodgdon Hawks are an even 2-2 at the beginning of the year. Saturday, Hodgdon overtook host Madawaska, 54-24 and faltered at home last Thursday to Fort Fairfield, 60-34.
Kevin McAfee led Hodgdon at Madawaska with 14 points, while Jimmy Buzzell chipped in with nine.
At Hodgdon last Thursday, the Hawks trailed 9-8 to start the game and 24-19 at halftime. However, the Tigers outscored the Hawks, 20-6 in the third period to pull away for the win.
Devin Quint paced Hodgdon’s offense with nine points, while McAfee had eight and Daden Palmer seven more.
The Katahdin Cougars picked up a 55-44 win last Friday in Stacyville over Penobscot Valley.
Tyson Porter fired in 17 points and had seven steals, while Nick Lane tossed in 16 points for the Cougars. T.J. young and Gavin Russell each added eight points.
The game was tied at the end of the first, 8-all, with Katahdin holding a five-point halftime advantage, 22-17. But in the third, Katahdin extended its lead, 43-34 and held on for the win.
Last Wednesday in Stacyville, the Cougars lost a close contest to Bangor Christian, 52-48.
Katahdin’s Russell dropped in 14 points, while Lane added 12 and Young pitched in with 11.
The East Grand Vikings were overpowered last Saturday at Machias, 75-28.
The Bulldogs snagged a 24-4 first-quarter lead and extended it to 42-17 at the half. In the second half, the Vikings could not recover, as they were outscored 33-11 in the second half.
For East Grand, Alex Stoddard tallied eight points and Jimmy Brittain netted seven. Philip Farley chipped in with five.