It’s getting close to the end of the regular season when teams are jockeying for playoff positions, as local high school teams are playing hard and hoping for a postseason date.
Lady Shires split on week; stay in first
The Houlton Lady Shires (9-3) picked up two wins and two losses last week, but they remain the number-one seed in the latest Class C Heal Point standings.
Rounding out the standings are: No. 2, Central, 10-0; No. 3, Calais, 5-4; No. 4, Orono, 7-5; No. 5, Woodland, 7-1; No. 6, Dexter, 6-4; No. 7, Foxcroft Academy, 5-7; No. 8, Penquis, 5-5; No. 9, PCHS, 4-6 and No. 10, Washington Academy, 7-4.
The Houlton girls defeated Fort Kent on Monday, 36-31 and Lee Academy last Tuesday, 52-31. They suffered a lopsided loss to Presque Isle, 78-22 last Thursday and Calais, 64-46 last Friday.
On Monday, the Lady Shires used a third-quarter 18-10 run to overpower host Fort Kent. The game was tied 17-all at halftime before the Houlton girls shook their opponents after the third, 35-27. The Lady Shires held on for the win, 36-31 behind Marina Cameron who scored 10 of her 13 in the third. Taylor Bailey chipped in with eight points and 12 rebounds, while Amanda Fogarty added six points.
Houlton 46, Calais 64 — Last Friday, the Lady Shires fell behind Calais 24-13 after one and 38-28 at halftime. After three, the Houlton girls trailed 54-32.
Fogarty netted a game-high 19 points, while Bailey tossed in 10 and Katie Cone added five.
Houlton 22, Presque Isle 78 — Last Thursday’s game wasn’t pretty for the Lady Shires who trailed the visiting Wildcats, 21-12 after the first quarter and 45-16 at halftime. After three, Presque Isle was dominating with a 66-20 lead.
Fogarty led Houlton with eight points.
Houlton 52, Lee 31 — Last Tuesday, the Lady Shires disposed of host Lee behind Fogarty’s game-high 21 points. Houlton outscored Lee, 14-3 in the second quarter for a 26-8 halftime advantage. After three periods, the Lady Shires held a comfortable 38-19 lead.
Bailey and Cameron each added nine points apiece, while Makala Folsom chipped in with six points for the winners.
Lady Warriors fourth; earn point-worthy win
The Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors won their seventh straight game, earning a point-worthy win over visiting Central Aroostook of Mars Hill on Monday in Dyer Brook, 45-38. The Lady Warriors are ranked fourth in the current Class D Heal Point standings with a 7-2 record.
Washburn is first with a 10-1 record, followed by Central Aroostook, 10-2 and Schenck, 7-3. Rounding out the top 10 teams are: No. 5, Deer Isle-Stonington, 7-2; No. 6, Shead, 6-4; No. 7, Fort Fairfield, 7-1; No. 8, Bangor Christian, 7-4; No. 9, Jonesport-Beals, 4-6 and No. 10, Easton, 6-5.
On Monday, the Lady Panthers held the lead through the first half of action, 10-9 and 20-16. The Lady Warriors continued to keep pace in the second half until the pivotal fourth quarter when SACS outscored CAHS, 13-4 to erase a 34-32 deficit for the win.
In the teams’ first meeting, Central Aroostook won, 60-40.
Senior Jasmine Rockwell showed her leadership in the decisive fourth, scoring six of her game-high 17 points. Shelby Hartin netted nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Kaitlyn Sommers and Sable Altvater added seven and six points, respectively.
For CAHS, who is without the services of point guard Rachael Grew, was led by Vicki McIntyre with 16 points, along with Kayla Cushman’s nine points and Kristen Long’s eight points.
Southern Aroostook 41, Hodgdon 35 — Last Wednesday in Hodgdon, the game went down to the wire with the Lady Warriors edging Hodgdon. At halftime, the Lady Warriors led 18-11, but after the third, Hodgdon had regained a 28-25 advantage. The teams swapped baskets in the final quarter, with Southern Aroostook taking back the lead at the 5:54 mark, 31-30 after a 4-0 run. The teams were tied (31-all) at the 5:07 mark, but a 10-4 run by the Lady Warriors provided the winning margin.
Rockwell led Southern Aroostook with 15 points, while Olivia Raymond netted 12 and Altvater added six.
For Hodgdon, Mariah Wiley tossed in 11 points, along with Haley Quint’s eight; Haley and Maya Gardiner’s seven points apiece and Lacey McQuarrie’s five.
Southern Aroostook 47, Easton 38 — The next night, the Lady Warriors were back in action in Easton. After a slow start, 11-6, the Lady Warriors held a 24-20 halftime lead. After the third, Southern Aroostook stayed in control, 32-27 en route to the win.
Hartin led Southern Aroostook’s scoring last Thursday with a game-high 19 points. Rockwell tossed in 10; Raymond, nine and Alvater, seven.
Cougars in the middle of the pack
The Katahdin Cougars are sitting in the sixth position of the latest Class D boys Heal Point standings behind No. 1, CAHS, 11-0; No. 2, Schenck, 8-2; No. 3, Jonesport-Beals, 9-1; No. 4, Easton, 8-3 and No. 5, Machias, 8-1.
Rounding out the top teams are: No. 7, Washburn, 8-0; No. 8, Fort Fairfield, 6-5; No. 9, Southern Aroostook, 6-4 and Deer Isle-Stonington, 4-4.
Last Friday, the Cougars steadily built their lead to overtake Fort Fairfield, 55-49 in Stacyville.
Katahdin 55, Fort Fairfield 49 — The Cougars took an early 11-4 lead and built a halftime cushion of 28-19. By the end of third, Katahdin held a 42-31 advantage for the win.
Kolby Gallagher led a well-rounded scoring attack with 16 points, going 8-for-9 from the stripe. Billy Livezey netted 13 points, while Brandon Robinson and Colton Bivighouse each tossed in 11 points.
The Katahdin girls are not faring as well as their boys team, as they are in 18th place in the Class D Heal Point standings.
Katahdin 32, Fort Fairfield 60 — Last Friday, the Lady Tigers built a 29-10 halftime advantage and rolled to a 45-18 third-quarter lead en route to the win.
For Katahdin, Megan Merry hit for 12 points, while Brittany Fogarty and Morgan Livezey each added 11 more.
Warriors in the hunt
The Southern Aroostook Warriors are staying in the hunt in Class D, with a 6-4 record and a ninth-place seeding.
The top teams in Class D are: No. 1, CAHS, 11-0; No. 2, Schenck, 8-2; No. 3, Jonesport-Beals, 9-1; No. 4, Easton, 8-3; No. 5, Machias, 8-1; No. 6, Katahdin, 6-3; No. 7, Washburn, 8-0; No. 8, Fort Fairfield, 6-5 and No. 10, Deer Isle-Stonington, 4-4.
Southern Aroostook 47, Easton 61 — The Warriors took a 14-7 opening lead and held a 27-19 halftime advantage in last Wednesday’s game. But, the Bears adjusted for a strong second half run, outscoring Southern Aroostook, 42-20 to take the win. In the third, the Bears overtook the Warriors to lead, 38-33.
For Southern Aroostook, freshman Rob Rockwell led the way with 12 points, while Jesse Boulier had nine; Cody Robinson, eight; Anthony Diaferio, seven and Joe Frazier, six.
Hawks split
The Hodgdon Hawks are 15th in Class C, with a 2-8 record. Last week, the Hawks defeated East Grand, but lost to Washburn.
Hodgdon 40, Washburn 69 — Racing to a 19-8 first-quarter lead, the Beavers extended their lead at intermission to 35-14. After three, they held a 58-28 cushion.
For the Hawks, Josh Hudson put down 16 points, while Nick Lunn added nine; Jake Tidd, six and Quinn Harris, five more.
Hodgdon 71, East Grand 27 — Last Tuesday, the Hawks took a 23-8 first-quarter lead and extended the score to 46-10 at halftime en route to the win.
Lunn led four Hodgdon players in double digits with 17 points, along with Hudson’s 14; Matt Harmon’s 11 and Tidd’s 10.
For winless East Grand, D.J. Schuurman scored seven points.
Lady Hawks in close games
The Hodgdon Lady Hawks found themselves in close games last week, just coming out on the short end of the stick in a couple of contests — losing to Central Aroostook, 36-34 and (recap under Lady Warriors) Southern Aroostook, 41-35. The Hodgdon girls are 17th in Class C with a 5-5 record as of Tuesday’s Heal Point standings.
Hodgdon 34, Central Aroostook 36 — The Lady Hawks led 30-28 with time running out in last Friday’s game in Hodgdon. With Central Aroostook on the stripe, Hodgdon wasn’t able to block out Sara Grass, who put back the missed free throw shot to force overtime. Then, Kristen Long led the way in overtime with four points to give the Lady Panthers the win.
Vicki McIntyre paced CAHS with 13 points.
For Hodgdon, Wiley was game-high scorer with 15 points and Haley Gardiner added nine.
The Lady Hawks opened the game ahead 9-3 and took a 14-6 halftime advantage. After the third, Hodgdon built a 22-14 lead.
Hodgdon 45, East Grand 21 — Last Tuesday, the Lady Hawks opened with a 12-0 advantage and extended it to 25-2 at intermission. Hodgdon built the lead to 36-13 at the end of three.
Maya Gardiner led a balanced attack with 10 points, while Haley Gardiner added seven and Quint chipped in with six.
For East Grand, Shaunna Beaudoin had nine points.
GHCA Eagles still have points on table
The Greater Houlton Christian Academy Eagles are ranked 14th in Class D with a 3-8 record, while the girls struggle with a winless season. The Eagles still have enough point-worthy matchups on the schedule to possibly make a playoff run. They have Washburn, Easton and Madawaska on the table and a victory over two of those teams may be enough to secure a playoff spot.
GHCA 58, Ashland 72 — Last Wednesday, the host Hornets outscored the Eagles in the second quarter, 20-4 for a 32-18 halftime lead. The Eagles climbed back into the game in the third, 45-50, but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
Deyrell Vargas led GHCA with 18 points, while Micah Wiley tossed in 14 and Ethan Holmes 12 more. Ryan Campbell added seven for the Eagles, as well.
GHCA 64, Madawaska 71 — At Madawaska, the game was tight through the first half of action with the Owls leading 33-30 at halftime. But, the Owls outscored GHCA 25-9 in the third for a 58-39 lead en route to the win.
Wiley sparked GHCA with 17 points, while Holmes tallied 14 points. Campbell tossed in 13 and Vargas added 12.
GHCA 37, Ashland 65 — In the girls game, the Lady Eagles trailed 11-10 after the first quarter, but GHCA was outscored 26-4 as Ashland took a 37-14 halftime lead. The Lady Eagles outscored Ashland in the third, 11-10, but couldn’t overcome the second quarter deficit.
Destinee Neureuther keyed GHCA with 17 points, while Olivia Lord had nine points and Lauren Bishop five more.
GHCA 18, Madawaska 69 — The Owls outscored GHCA 17-4 for a 34-6 halftime lead and cruised to the win behind Nicole Cyr’s 24 points.
GHCA’s Neureuther and Lord each had eight points.
Vikings winless; girls team struggles
The East Grand School boys team is still looking for their first win on the season, while the girls team has two wins against their seven losses.
On Monday, the Vikings were routed 69-14 by visiting Easton, which is among the top teams in Class D. The Bears grabbed a 23-2 opening lead and led 50-6 at intermission, overpowering East Grand.
In girls action, the Lady Vikings kept the game close with Easton, falling 45-37. The Lady Vikes led 11-10 to start the game, but trailed at halftime, 21-18. After the third, East Grand was just two points behind, 30-28.
Shaunna Beaudoin tossed in 10 for East Grand.
East Grand 31, Jonesport-Beals 60 — The Royalettes grabbed a 26-6 opening lead and never looked back in last Friday’s game in Danforth.
Farley posted 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Beaudoin scored nine. Kim Armstrong chipped in with six points and Shelby Lindsey added five.
East Grand 28, Jonesport-Beals 91 — In Danforth on Friday, the Royals led 42-8 at halftime cruising to the win.
Neal Noble scored nine for the Vikings.
