With only a couple weeks left to the regular season, the playoff picture is coming into focus for girls’ basketball squads.
Houlton (13-1, 88.7654) has a firm grip atop the Class B North region in the Maine Principals’ Association Heal Point standings. Mount Desert Island (11-1, 70.6790) or Presque Isle (10-1, 65.4321) could overtake the Shires simply based on the fact that the Trojans and Wildcats have played fewer games.
Houlton plays Old Town, Hermon, Presque Isle and Mattanawcook Academy to round out the season. The Feb. 2 game against Presque Isle could have huge implications for where the Shires finish in the standings.
The top four teams in the region earn a bye directly to Bangor for the tournament. If Houlton stays as the No. 1 seed it would face the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 prelim game (currently Hermon and Central).
Hodgdon (1-12, 4.2593) has shown dramatic improvements on the court this season playing in the more competitive Class C North region. The Hawks are not in the playoff mix at this time.
In Class D North, the young Southern Aroostook Warriors remain in first place, despite suffering a loss to Fort Fairfield Monday. Fort Fairfield competes in the Class C region, so the loss did not hurt the Warriors as much as if it had been an in-division foe.
SACS (8-4, 42.7778) has a slim lead over No. 2 Shead (9-2, 37.1605) for the top seed. Katahdin (6-7, 20.4938) is sixth in the region, while East Grand/GHCA (5-7, 14.444) is eighth. All three squads are playoff bound.
The following is a recap of games played through Monday.
Wisdom 31, East Grand/GHCA 36 — At Danforth Monday, the Vikings picked up another victory on the season thanks to a 17-11 run to close out the game. Junior Sarah Stoddard scored 21 points in the win, while sophomore Hayliegh Shay added nine for the Vikings.
Rhylee White paced Wisdom with 13 points.
East Grand led 9-5 in the first quarter and 15-12 at the half, but Wisdom went up 20-19 after three periods.
So. Aroostook 34, Fort Fairfield 60 — At Fort Fairfield Monday, the Tigers scored early and often, taking an 18-6 lead in the first quarter that Southern Aroostook never recovered from.
Taylor Churchill and Chelsey Pelkey led the Tigers with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Kayla Giberson had eight points and Teresa Maynard and Marissa Brouette added seven points each.
For SAHS, freshman Kassidy Mathers had 12 points and eighth-grader Sydney Brewer added 11.
The Tigers led 18-6, 34-12 and 47-21 at the quarter breaks.
Calais 54, Houlton 72 — At Houlton Monday, sophomore Kolleen Bouchard poured in 25 points and junior Rylee Warman had 23, including four 3-pointers, as the Shiretowners rolled past Calais. Sophomore Aspen Flewelling added 13 points.
For Calais, Logan Huckins scored 19 points, while Faith Tirrell chipped in 16 and Sydney Farrar had 10.
Houlton led 25-16, 43-24 and 57-34 at the quarter breaks.
Hodgdon 38, Easton 52 — At Easton Monday, Blake Bradley led a balanced scoring effort with 13 points en route to the win over Hodgdon. Sara Gilman and Elise Allen added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For the Hawks, sophomore Lexi McGuire tallied 14 points and Taylor Desrosiers chipped in 10, while Sydney Howell added seven.
The two teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter, and the Hawks led 22-19 at the half and 35-29 after three periods. Easton rallied with a 23-3 run to close out the game.
Schenck 60, Katahdin 46 — At Stacyville Friday, the Wolverines bested Katahdin. Kayla Falone had 18 points for Schenck, while Anna Sewall and Taylor Mcglaughlin chipped in with 14, and Chantel Lane had 10 points.
Katahdin was led by Courtney Stevens with 17 points, while Kaycee Cintron, Georgia Landry, and Molly Cunningham each chipped in seven points.
Houlton 50, John Bapst 43 — At Bangor Friday, Kolleen Bouchard scored 19 points, going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, as the Shiretowners held off the Crusaders. Aspen Flewelling netted 12 points for the Shiretowners.
Crystal Bell tossed in 19 points to lead John Bapst.
Houlton led 14-9, 30-20 and 38-29 at the quarter breaks.
Wisdom 33, Hodgdon 22 — At Hodgdon Friday, Rhylee Wright recorded a game-high 21 points to lead Wisdom past the Hawks. Melanie Bellefleur chipped in nine points.
Taylor Desrosiers and Lexi McGuire paced Hodgdon with eight and seven points, respectively.
Hodgdon led 3-2 in the first quarter, but trailed 17-10 at the half and 23-12 after three periods.
Washburn 55, So. Aroostook 48 — At Dyer Brook Friday, Emmy Churchill led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points to pace Washburn to victory. Grace Braley and Lainna Mette each contributed 13 points and Taylor Howe added 10.
Southern Aroostook was led by Kassidy Mathers with a game-high 19 points. Katelyn Slauenwhite chipped in with 10.
Washburn led 19-13 in the first quarter and 33-28 at the half. Southern Aroostook pulled even 41-41 after three periods before the Beavers closed out the game with a 14-7 run.
Hodgdon 21, So. Aroostook 60 — At Dyer Brook Thursday, Katelyn Slauenwhite led a balanced scoring attack with 16 first-half points as Southern Aroostook cruised past Hodgdon. Sydney Brewer scored 15 points, Kylie Vining logged a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Madison Cummings scored 10 points for the Warriors.
Sarah Hutchinson paced Hodgdon with five points.
SACS led 23-0, 41-4 and 47-15 at the quarter breaks.
Shead 50, East Grand/GHCA 34 — At Danforth Thursday, Shead of Eastport outscored the Vikings 18-4 in the second quarter and never looked back en route to the win. Holly Preston led all scorers with 24 points to pace the 9-2 Tigers. Katelyn Mitchell added eight points.
Sarah Stoddard led the Vikings with 14 points and Hayleigh Shay posted nine points.
The two squads were tied 13-13 at the end of the first quarter, but Shead went up 31-17 at halftime and led 41-29 after three periods.
Houlton 86, Caribou 39 — At Caribou Thursday, Kolleen Bouchard poured in a game-high 30 points to power Houlton to victory over the Vikings. Aspen Flewelling and Rylee Warman contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Shires.
Searra Herbert led Caribou with 14 points and Jenna Boucher added seven.
Houlton led 29-6, 48-18 and 71-27 at the quarter breaks.
Houlton 74, Calais 48 — At Calais Jan. 12, the Shiretowners jumped to a 20-point lead at the end of the first quarter en route to the win over the Blue Devils.
Kolleen Bouchard paced Houlton with 24 points. Natalie Hill chipped in with 21 points and Aspen Flewelling netted 17.
Logan Huckins scored 17 points to lead the Blue Devils.
Houlton led 28-8, 42-20 and 57-34 at the quarter breaks.
Fort Fairfield 57, Hodgdon 19 — At Hodgdon Jan. 12, in a game played earlier to stay ahead of a snowstorm, the Tigers rolled to a 21-2 lead at the end of the first quarter en route to the victory.
Taylor Churchill paced the Tigers with 17 points while Chelsey Pelkey and Teresa Maynard each added nine.
Kora Lambert scored eight points to lead the Hawks.
The Tigers led 21-2, 30-6 and 43-10 at the quarter breaks.
