The Houlton Basketball Association is in its last week of the regular season action, after several competitive games through the winter schedule. The Men’s League will begin the postseason double-elimination tournament starting Feb. 10.
The Rec Legends continued their winning ways and a perfect season of 10-0, thus far, after defeating the Monstars, 73-61. Each team netted three 3-pointers, with the Monstars trailing 28-18 at the break.
The Rec Legends finished strong out rebounding their opponents 51-38, despite Alex Donovan of the Monstars being the leading rebounder of the League, averaging 13.1 per game.
The Rec Legends were led in scoring by their trio All-Star players with Sam Henderson finishing with 19 points, Frank DiStefano and Adam Hogan were close behind with 14 and 12 points, respectively. James Skehan also collected double figures scoring 12 points.
The Monstars placed all five players in double-digit scoring, dropping to a 1-9 record. Matthew Drake displayed great range sinking five 3-pointers and finishing with 19 points, while Ruben Redman notched 12 points; and Jeff Dustin, Cliff Redman and Donovan each sank 10 points.
The reigning Men’s League champions will have their work cut out for them in the playoffs as the Swamp Donkeys are seeded in second position. The Swamp Donkeys moved to 8-3 on the season after defeating the Sofa Kings easily 85-59.
Brothers, Peter and James Bates led their team to the win by shooting 56.6 percent from the field and scoring 56 percent of the team’s offensive points.
The Swamp Donkeys leapt out to an incredible 26-8 lead to start the regular season game, which the Sofa Kings were never able to recover from and trailed 49-24 at the intermission. The Sofa Kings played tough in the second half, with both team leaders Evan Carter and Seth Dorr hitting six field goals.
The Swamp Donkeys marched to the lead and win with James Bates swishing 27 points for the game high. Lucas Flewelling had a season-high 21 points, with Peter Bates having another exceptional game with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. Adam Owen not only swatted back a game-high four blocks, but also drained 11 points.
The Sofa Kings dropped to 3-8, locking up fourth position in the playoffs. Carter claimed another double double performance with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dorr continues to lead the League in assists with an astonishing 4.2 per game, after a game-high of eight assists to go along with his 17 points and six rebounds, while Chad Duff ended up with 14 total points.
The Houlton Basketball Association will end the regular season games this week. The anticipated All-Star special event will be offered to the Men’s League Division on Sunday, Feb. 8, just prior to the kickoff of the 2014-15 postseason. All games are open to the public to attend and support the local players.
