Sports Editor
HOULTON — A low-scoring affair swung in favor of the Houlton girls basketball team Wednesday evening as the Shiretowners beat visiting Caribou 34-27.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Going in for a reverse layup is Caribou’s Jenna Selander during Wednesday evening’s game at Houlton. Defending on the play is Houlton’s Amanda Fogarty. Caribou fell to Houlton 34-27, but bounced back to defeat Mattanawcook at home Saturday, 39-37.
Houlton’s Vanessa Sanderson led all players with 13 points, while Martha McPartland added seven; Taylor Bailey, six; Makala Folsom, four’; and Amanda Fogarty and Marina Cameron, both two.
For Caribou, Jenna Selander led the way with 11 points, while Dayna Michaud added eight; Alexa Massey, six; and Danielle Soucy, two.
Selander staked the Vikings to a quick 5-0 lead as she showed strong baseline moves, including a layup off a full-court pass as Houlton tried to press the Vikings defensively.
Houlton had difficulty finding its shooting touch, but finally broke the scoring ice with 3:37 to play in the first quarter when Taylor Bailey converted an offensive rebound and was fouled. Sanderson also converted a missed shot with a putback as Houlton bridged the gap to 5-4 by the end of the first quarter.
“Our team plays with a lot of heart,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “There are times when we struggle offensively to get things going. However, the girls are pretty good at cracking down on defense when the shots aren’t falling. Caribou packed in a 2-3 zone and therefore it was very difficult to get any dribble penetration in the seams.”
To counter Houlton’s full-court press, Caribou resorted to long lobs in the first quarter, which resulted in Selander’s two scores.
“We decided to play behind on the first initial inbounds pass, then jump the ball and look for a quick trap,” coach Graham said. “Our game plan coming in was the 1-3-1 zone. We’ve had pretty good success against them in the past, so we decided to try it again.”
Selander continued to be the Vikings’ focal point as she scored on a reverse layup to start the second quarter, but Houlton countered quickly as McPartland drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to knot the game at 7-7. The Shires took their first lead with 6:24 to play in the half as Sanderson drained a short-range jumper for the 9-7 lead.
Houlton never trailed again as the Shires took a 15-13 lead into the locker room at halftime. That lead grew to 24-19 after three quarters.
Caribou made a run in the fourth stanza, cutting the lead to 28-25 with 2:01 to play, Houlton’s defense stiffened and the Shires did a nice job down the stretch from the foul line to seal the victory.
Houlton converted 9 of 17 free throws (53 percent), while Caribou made 7 of 12 foul shots (58 percent).
Vikings rebound past Lynx
On Saturday, the Vikings rebounded with a 39-37 victory over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln as Selander once again paced Caribou with 12 points, while Massey chipped in 10 and Soucy, six. For Mattanawcook, Brooke Hanscom led all scorers with 13 points, while Brittany Libbey added nine and Taylor Hawkins had seven.
The two squads were tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter before Caribou surged to a 22-12 halftime lead. The Vikings also led 39-37 after three stanzas and held off a late Lynx surge for the win.
“We controlled most of the game,” coach Schofield said. “We were able to handle every type of press and defense he threw at us. All in all our kids played excellent defense and executed our offenses. Lincoln threw a diamond and one defense at us and it took three quarters for our kids to finally understand how to execute against it. We prepared for it and they put it on to start the game and we scored and got good shots and we never saw it again. We have a huge week ahead of us and this is a great start to that.”
