With postseason position hanging in the balance, girls’ basketball teams are about to embark on the final week of hoop action.
The final regular season games will be played Friday, followed by preliminary playoffs for some squads starting Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, 2016.
For the first time in several weeks, the Lady Shiretowners have dropped out of the top spot in the Class B North. Houlton (15-1, 132.7160 points) is now second in the region behind No. 1 Mt. Desert Island (16-1, 140.6173).
Houlton played a huge game against No. 3 Presque Isle last night (Tuesday). A win over the Wildcats would likely be enough to lift the Shires back into the top spot. Conversely, a win by Presque Isle could see the two squads flip-flop in the standings.
At the very least, the Shires will remain in the top four, and earn a bye directly to Bangor for the playoffs. Depending on where the team finishes, Houlton could play their first quarterfinal game Friday, Feb. 12 or Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Cross Insurance Center.
In Class C North, Hodgdon (1-16, 6.3580) is 16th and not in the playoff picture this year.
In Class D North, Southern Aroostook (12-5, 83.1481) is comfortably in the top spot, well ahead of the No. 2 seed Central Aroostook (12-4, 67.0370). The Warriors will also earn a bye directly to Bangor and avoid a prelim game. If SACS stays in the No. 1 seed, the team will face the winner of No. 8-No. 9 prelim.
Katahdin (9-8, 34.4444) is currently seventh in the region and is likely hosting a preliminary game. If the Cougars could move up to the No. 6 position, they too would earn a bye to Bangor. If Katahdin stays No. 7, the Cougars would host the No. 10 seed in a Feb. 9 prelim.
East Grand/Greater Houlton Christian Academy (7-10, 26.8519) moved back into playoff contention this week as the Vikings are now ninth in the region. The Vikings would travel to the No. 8 seed (currently Wisdom) for a prelim game.
The following is a recap of regular season games played through Monday.
Hermon 30, Houlton 49 — At Houlton Saturday, the Shires used a balanced scoring attack to lead the team to its 15th win on the season over Hermon. Played in front of a large hometown crowd, Houlton’s Kolleen Bouchard scored 17 points to lead the Shiretowners past the Hawks.
Natalie Hill added 13 points, Rylee Warman chipped in 10 and Aspen Flewelling had nine for Houlton.
Emi Higgins led the 9-8 visitors with 16 points and Caitlyn Tracy tallied six.
Houlton led 6-9, 28-18 and 36-22 at the quarter breaks.
Ashland 35, So. Aroostook 43 — At Dyer Brook Saturday, Kassidy Mathers scored 12 of her 16 points in the final quarter to lead Southern Aroostook by Ashland. Sydney Brewer contributed 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the 12-5 Warriors.
Senior Laura Sturgeon scored a game high 20-points for Ashland.
The Warriors led 16-9, 24-14 and 29-23 at the quarter breaks.
Greenville 36, Katahdin 64 — At Stacyville Friday, Cougar Courtney Stevens led all scorers with 30 points to power Katahdin over Greenville. Kathadin’s Georgia Landry chipped in with 12 points.
Shelby Ward led the Lakers with 16 points and MacKenzie Ward added 10.
So. Aroostook 52, Hodgdon 32 — At Hodgdon Friday, Brewer poured in 22 points to lift Southern Aroostook to victory. Vining chipped in 12.
Sydney Howell and Janelle Goff paced the Hawks with 10 and eight points, respectively.
The Warriors led 16-6, 30-8 and 41-23 at the quarter breaks.
East Grand/GHCA 31, Wisdom 24 — At St. Agatha Friday, the Vikings notched the close seven-point victory over Wisdom. Individual results were not reported.
Woodland 48, East Grand/GHCA 43-– At Danforth Jan. 27, Woodland took a three-point lead at the end of third quarter and then held off late push East Grand/Greater Houlton Christian Academy for the win.
Shaye Beers scored 11 points to lead the Dragons and Sara Boies added eight.
Sarah Stoddard paced East Grand with 18 points, while Hayleigh Shay added 11 and Kim Stoddard netted 10.
The two squads were knotted at 9-9 in the first quarter, with Woodland holding a slim 24-23 lead at the half and a 35-32 edge after three periods.
