BANGOR, Maine —Houlton girls coach Shawn Graham kept his team in the locker room at halftime for very long time Tuesday morning.
His halftime pep talk worked as No. 2 Houlton came out with renewed vigor in the second-half of its quarterfinal with No. 7 Central of East Corinth (13-7) and cruised to a 51-37 victory. The Shires improve to 17-2 on the season and advance to face No. 3 Piscataquis (15-4) in the semifinals Friday at 2:05 p.m.
Piscataquis advanced with a 52-31 win over Washington Academy.
Houlton freshman Kolleen Bouchard led all players with 20 points, while junior Katie Condon chipped in 11. For Central, Bre Skofield had 13 points and Sydney Allen added nine.
Coach Graham said he spent the bulk of his halftime talk stressing the importance of figuring out Central’s 1-3-1 zone defense.
“Their defense was giving us fits,” he said. “Our big players were not getting to where they needed to be quick enough. So we focused on making the passes and executing.”
Graham said it was his goal to control the third quarter in the hopes of getting Central to switch to man defense, which would favor the Shires with their ability to run the floor.
“Coach told us (at halftime) to just start running,” Condon said. “Our goal was to run them off the floor. We needed to do more fast breaking and not play their (Central’s) game.
Foul trouble was an issue in the second half as both Condon picked up her fourth foul with 2:05 to play in the third quarter, while Bouchard collected her third foul. Coach Graham looked to sophomore Makayla Watson to fill in for Condon and the results paid dividends as Watson hit a jumper at the buzzer to end the third period giving Houlton a 31-30 lead.
Playing on the Cross Insurance Center floor proved to be intimidating for some of the younger Shires.
“I think we got inside our own heads as a couple of the younger players were really nervous,” Condon said. “That’s to be expected. We’ll be good to go Friday.”
Houlton (51)
Gentle 1 0-0 2, Graham, Hill 2 0-2 4, Bouchard 8 3-4 20, Warman 1 5-6 7, Collett, Peterson, Brewer, Flewelling 1 0-0 3, Condon 5 1-4 11, Watson 2 0-0 4. Totals: 10 9-20 51. 3-pointers — Bouchard, Flewelling
Central (37)
Cook 2 1-4 5, Traften, Allen 3 1-4 9, Miller 1 0-0 2, Campbell 1 0-0 3, Skofield 6 1-1 13, Smith 2 1-2 5. Totals: 15 4-11 37. 3-Pointers — Allen 2, Campbell.
Houlton
13 10 8 20 — 51
Central
13 8 9 7 — 37
