Celtics to championship: Houlton boys riding high

What’s better than playing on the Celtics parquet floor? For the Houlton 5-6 grade Aroostook Youth Basketball League team it was winning a championship of their own after returning from their performance at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.
    After seeing an NBA championship ring, being broadcast in the background during the ESPN pre-game  show and then performing for two or three minutes before the Celtics game is hard to top.
“I know our shooting was 70 percent,” said coach Marty Bouchard. “We heard several ‘oos’ and ‘ahs’ from the crowd of about 12,000.”
Bouchard and coach Chris Putnam also talked to former NBA Celtics player Tommy Heinsohn prior to the team taking the floor on Dec. 5.
“We spoke to him about playing his first NBA preseason game at Houlton High School,” said Bouchard. “He recalled the long trip up to Houlton. We had some laughs, as he told us that his broadcast partner, Mike Gorman, was not a Maine guy, but actually he is a Maine guy.”
But, riding on the emotion and dreams of the NBA still fresh in their minds, the Houlton boys traveled to the University of Maine at Presque Isle to compete in a seven-team tournament on December 7.
The boys played Caribou West, Caribou East, Presque Isle White and Madawaska.
“We won our first four games by an average of 25 points per game and all 13 players on our team scored,” said Bouchard.
In their first playoff game, Houlton outscored Madawaska, 14-5 in the third to take a 44-32 victory, as Kyle Bouchard tossed in 16 points and Daniel Howe netted nine more.
But, the championship game against Caribou East was complex.
“They stalled the entire game,” explained Bouchard. “We had to try things to make them change their style.”
Caribou East held a 15-13 advantage at halftime and a slim 22-21 lead after the third. In the final period, the Houlton boys were trailing by two points with three seconds left. Inbounding the ball to Garrett Ring, he buried a 17-footer from the left wing to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Bouchard scored two of his 12 points to lift his team to a 30-29 win. Howe threw in 10 points, while Ring and Garrett Putnam each had three and Ian Goetsch a hoop for the winners.
Dane Savage fired in 18 points for Caribou East.
In their opening tournament game, the Houlton boys defeated Caribou West, 41-20 behind Howe and Bouchard’s 10 points apiece. Putnam netted six more for the winners, who led 17-3 in the first period.
In their next game against Caribou East, who they met in the championship, the Houlton squad picked up a lopsided, 62-34 victory. Bouchard fired in 14 points, Howe and Jacob Condon each added 10 points and Noah Holmes chipped in with eight.
In their third contest, the Houlton team led 25-8 at halftime en route to a 47-17 routing of Presque Isle White. Jacob Brown scored 12 points, with Goetsch adding eight more.
In their final game before the playoffs, the Houlton boys outscored Madawaska 13-4 in the second period for a 31-14 lead and 55-35 victory.
Bouchard poured in 16 points, while Howe and Holmes each added eight points.
At the end of the tournament, Howe was named to the All-Tournament team and Bouchard was selected the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.