Local athletes accomplished many goals in the last year. The Year In Review touches upon some of those achievements.
January
The Houlton cheerleaders placed third in the Penobscot Valley Conference Small School Championship in Millinocket. The Houlton team finished with 106.5 points.
In their next competition, they finished second at the Aroostook League Cheerleading Competition in Caribou behind the hometown squad, with Presque Isle in third and Mars Hill in fourth.
The Houlton squad executed difficult stunts and dances on their way to a top finish in the Class C Regional Meet held at the Bangor Auditorium. The Houlton team scored 132.2 points, with the defending Class C state champs Washington Academy, coming in second with a tally of 131.8 points.
Katahdin High School qualified at the Class D State Cheerleading Competition in Augusta. Central Aroostook of Mars Hill won the title with a score of 124.5 points.
February
The Houlton varsity cheerleaders took first place in the Eastern Maine Class C Competition on Jan. 26 in Bangor. The Houlton squad squeaked past Washington Academy by 0.4 points with a score of 132.2.
After being named Eastern Maine Class C champions, the Houlton High School cheerleaders finished fifth in the state meet at the Augusta Civic Center. The Houlton squad scored 119.2 points in the preliminary round.
The annual Wild Katahdin Trust Snow Run drew a smaller field than usual, as participants ran on mealy snow-covered, slippery roads. Alfred Hanscom, 32, was the overall male winner of the 5K run with a time of 18:51, while Angie Ewings, 40, was the overall female winner, finishing with a time of 22:02.
The Katahdin Lady Cougars upset No. 1 Washburn, 36-34 behind Kali Rush’s ‘Hail Mary’ shot. The No. 8 Lady Cougars were a dark horse in the Class D girls’ tournament, but had all eyes on them, as they bumped off No. 1 Washburn in overtime and faced Ashland, a 76-71 winner over Greater Houlton Christian Academy, in the semifinals at the Bangor Auditorium.
No. 8 host Katahdin Cougars and No. 9 Machias went head-to-head in a playoff game, with the Bulldogs owning a 52-46 win, finishing the Cougars’ season at 7-12.
Never underestimate how important mounting fouls and free-throw shooting can play a significant factor in the outcome of a game. The Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors discovered how a game can change, as the visiting Katahdin Lady Cougars earned a trip to the Eastern Maine Class D Tournament quarterfinal using 16-of-22 free throw shooting to pull out a 46-40 overtime victory in their preliminary game in Dyer Brook.
The Hodgdon Lady Hawks nearly pulled off an upset in their Class D preliminary game against host Ashland, but came up short, 54-50.
Two local high school boys’ basketball teams ended their seasons in the Class D preliminary round of the Eastern Maine Tournament. The No. 15 Hodgdon Hawks played the No. 2 Mariners, who took a lopsided 79-54 victory, while the No. 10 Southern Aroostook Warriors faced No. 7 Shead and were defeated, 65-43.
The Houlton Lady Shires of Houlton took advantage of their number-one seed last week at the Bangor Auditorium by making it all the way to the Eastern Maine finals.
In the Class C quarterfinal game, it took the Houlton Lady Shires until the final period to finally shake Fort Kent, winning 64-45, and erase the memory of last year’s overtime loss to the Lady Warriors.
After narrowly defeating a very aggressive Fort Kent team in the quarterfinals, Houlton faced off against the 18-1 fifth-seeded Eagles of George Stevens Academy. The Eagles fought hard in the last quarter to overtake Houlton, but a clutch free throw by Lainey Herring with a minute left in regulation helped Houlton edge out a win in the semifinal matchup, 54-52.
The Lady Shires were Eastern Maine runners-up, as Lee beat out Houlton with a final score of 73-49.
The Katahdin Lady Cougars were defeated in the Class D semifinals by Ashland, 45-35.
Houlton’s Rachel Foster was named to the Eastern Maine Class C All-Tournament Team. The 6-1 senior center Foster, a two-time All-tourney winner, carried her team offensively by hitting a double-double (18.6 ppg) in all three tournament games, including firing in 23 points and hauling down 21 rebounds against Lee in the final.
Katahdin’s Olivia McNally was named to the Class D Honorable Mention listing.
The Houlton Shiretowners hung around for three quarters, but the Calais offense pulled away for a 65-51 semifinal win over Houlton at the Bangor Auditorium. In the Class C quarterfinal, the Shiretowners squashed the Orono Red Riots, 55-38 behind their interior presence and board control. The Shiretowners outrebounded Orono 11-5 in the opening period and 29-21 for the game.
The Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks opened the postseason traveling to county rival Presque Isle for a quarterfinal match. The No. 5 Black Hawks came out on the winning end of a hard fought 3-2 game over the fourth-seeded Wildcats.
March
The Houlton- Hodgdon Black Hawks ended their season in an Eastern Maine semifinal match against the number-one seeded Winslow Black Raiders in Sukee Arena, Winslow’s home rink. The final score was 4-2 with Winslow coming out on top and moving to the Eastern Maine final in Orono.
It was a sweep for the Houlton girls and boys junior high basketball teams, as they overtook Southern Aroostook in the championships of the 35th annual Southern Aroostook Invitational Basketball Tournament held before February vacation.
The Bartlett Forest Products Peewee hockey team claimed the Bangor Friendship Tournament grand championship, going undefeated, 5-0, through the event.
Rachel Foster of Houlton was among the semifinalists for Miss Basketball, an award presented to one outstanding female high school senior basketball player in the state.
Houlton’sRachel Foster and Josh Beals were part of the Maine McDonald’s® High School Senior All-Star game.
A new club is forming in the greater Houlton area, as the first meeting of the Southern Aroostook Ski Club took place at the Linneus Sno-Sports Club. Four Houlton youth are participating in the Big Rock Youth Ski League this season. They have competed in two ski meets at Herman and Greenville. The brother and sister team of Cameron and Kenzie Clark, son and daughter of Bruce and Jayne Clark, along with Tori Degenhardt, daughter of Fred and Lisa Degenhardt and Jason Collett, son of Peter and Lisa Collett have been racing slalom and in the giant slalom at the scheduled events.
The 14-year-old Aroostook County Youth Basketball Organization of America team captured the Sheriff’s Cup in Ellsworth during the March 8 and 9 tournament by winning five straight games with six players. Playing for the team were Danielle Tracy, Kayla Richards, Chelsea Nickerson,Vicki McIntyre, Casey Bonville, Amanda Fogarty. Coaches were coach Mike Fogarty and Dave DeMerchant. The team competed in the Husson Basketball Tournament in Bangor, and fell just shy of the finals with a 5-1 record.
The Aroostook League recently announced the winter season 2007-08 All-Aroostook honorees chosen for their performance and contribution to their teams during the last season were Houlton’s Josh Beals, Parker Brown, Ryan Hill, Rachel Foster and Vanessa Sanderson; Greater Houlton Christian Academy’s Chad Duff and Chelsie Lord; Hodgdon’s Sam Carpenter and Taylor Quint; Katahdin’s Tom Anderson and Kayla Stevens and Southern Aroostook’s Dakota Sleeper and Brittany Charette.
Several Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks players were presented with awards at the Eastern Maine Class B Hockey banquet. Senior defenseman Zach Chase garnered First Team All-Eastern Maine honors, was named to the All-Academic All-Star squad and represented Houlton-Hodgdon in the Senior All-Star game in Falmouth. The Black Hawks were well represented on the all-star teams, as sophomore Craig Buxton garnered Second Team Forward honors and junior Morgan Hall was named a Third Team All-Star and was selected for an Academic All-Star award. Junior defenseman Taylor Martin was named to the honorable mention list and freshman goaltender Malik Abouleish was named to the All-Rookie Team. Academic All-Star awards went to seniors Chase and Chris McGuire; juniors Hall, Lowell Matthews, Elliot Mooers and Ashir Abouleish.
The Aroostook Basketball League’s 5-6 grade basketball squad captured the Maine Basketball Festival Small School Division Tournament.
The County Youth Basketball of America 14-and 16-year-old teams won their respective divisions at the Harbor House Shootout in MDI, as did the County 14-year-old squad, who won the junior high division.
Abby Kinens and Rachel Harmon, both of Houlton, participated in the Maine Festival hockey tryouts at the University of Southern Maine. Both competitors played on the Maine Select teams in their respective age divisions.
Houlton High School community honored four HHS Sports Boosters members with outstanding dedication plaques. Jody and Wendell Harvey and Scott and Tara Austin.
* More Year In Review in next week’s edition.
