BANGOR, Maine — Freshman Abbie Worthley came off the bench to hit a pair of critical 3-pointers, one in the fourth quarter and another in overtime, and the defending two-time state champion Houlton High School Shiretowners rallied for a 37-33 win over Hermon in their Class B North semifinal Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Center.
Top seed Houlton, 19-1, will face third seed Foxcroft Academy, 16-4, in Saturday’s 2:05 p.m. title game.
It was the third overtime game between the two this season and the Hawks appeared poised to pick up their first win over Houlton as they led 31-25 with 2:18 left.
But the Hawks turned the ball over twice against Houlton’s half-court trap and Houlton tied it on a Kolleen Bouchard free throw with 1:41 left; Worthley’s 3-pointer from the corner off a Rylee Warman pass with 1:01 remaining and Bouchard’s eight-foot jumper from the lane with three seconds left.
“It was a left-handed floater,” said Bouchard. “I missed one like that against Presque Isle with a chance to win it.”
Worthley opened the overtime by nailing another 3-pointer and Houlton never trailed after that.
“We needed someone to come off the bench and hit big shots and Abbie did it,” said Bouchard. “This was a total team win. I felt like we were the underdogs since we were missing one of our starters (injured Kristen Graham).”
Emi Higgins sank a pair of free throws with 1:33 left to make it 34-33 but Aspen Flewelling poked the ball away from a Hawk to a teammate and Warman eventually hit a free throw to expand the lead.
Higgins had a 15-footer from the right wing bounce off the rim and Bouchard grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit two free throws to sew it up with 3.4 seconds left.
Bouchard finished with 20 points for the Shires along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Worthley had her important six points and Flewelling had four points. Makala Watson and Kristen Brewer had five rebounds each and Brewer also had three steals.
Higgins had 12 points and three rebounds for Hermon. Lauren Plissey had four points, a game-high 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists. Alex Allain had five points and two steals.
“We hadn’t seen that girl (Worthley) all year. She hit some big shots,” said Hermon coach Chris Cameron. “We didn’t take care of the ball down the stretch.”
Bouchard’s 11 points staked the Shires to a 19-12 lead at the intermission.
The first-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball team selection had just one basket but was 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.
The Hawks got in foul trouble in the tightly officiated contest.
Standout senior forward Higgins sat out the majority of the half after picking up her second foul in the first period and junior forward Lauren Plissey had to sit in the second period after being assessed her second foul.
The Shires used a 7-2 run to close out the half and build their lead.
Kristen Brewer fed Makala Watson for a six-footer from the lane, a free throw by Warman and four foul shots by Bouchard comprised the run.
Higgins made up for lost time by triggering an eight-point run to open the second half with three consecutive baskets including a pair of foul line jumpers.
Paige Plissey finished the run by converting a Lauren Plissey pass underneath.
