The Houlton girls travel to Presque Isle tonight in one of the most highly-anticipated games of the season. The match was originally slated for Jan. 4, but postponed due to the weather.
Houlton is a perfect 8-0 on the season, and in its past two contests the Shires have knocked off a pair of previously unbeaten teams — Central and Calais — in convincing fashion. But, Houlton has not played a game since Jan. 10.
“I don’t think the week long layoff will be too much of an issue,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “It has actually given us lots of time to scout (Presque Isle) a couple of times and also review their offensive and defensive sets.”
Presque Isle is 7-2 and winners of its last four games, including Saturday’s 64-26 victory at Old Town. The Wildcats are currently in seventh place in Class B North.
Houlton is currently the top-ranked team in Class C North. The teams split last season’s two games, each winning on the road. They will meet again in Houlton Jan. 31. The last three times the two teams have met, the game was decided by one point.
“It’s a big point-worthy game that would be nice to win,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson. “We have to shoot well and hope Houlton does not. We always need kids to step up and for Emily [Wheaton] to have her normal scoring game. I am worried about us scoring and rebounding mostly.”
After carefully looking at the Wildcats’ strengths and weaknesses, coach Graham said he believes the game will come down to a few key components.
“We need to limit the amount of 3-point shots they are able to take,” he said. “We can’t afford to swap two points for three points, which is what they have consistently done with their opponents.”
Accomplishing that task will be easier said than done, however, as the Wildcats are extremely capable from behind the 3-point arc.
“We will likely look to switch a lot of their perimeter screens and contest the three-pointer, while forcing them to beat us off the dribble and shoot a more contested 2-point jump shot,” Graham said. “We typically don’t switch a lot of screens as we like to talk, hedge and recover so this will be a bit different for us.”
The Shires also will look to use their size advantage to work the ball inside more and if the Wildcats collapse in the paint, Graham said Houlton will need to knock down the open looks from the floor.
Rebounding will be one of the biggest keys of the game, he added. “Presque Isle likes the perimeter looks and therefore you end up yielding lots of long rebounds which makes it harder on boxing out,” he said. “We can’t get caught boxing out [with them] then going straight to the rim. If you give them two or three chances they will likely hurt you.”
Coach Graham said he is hoping to see more offense from Kristen Graham and Aspen Flewelling, especially considering the Wildcats will try to limit Houlton’s ace Kolleen Bouchard. Jamie Brown could be another key for the team as she has been a defensive spark plug in recent games. “When she is in, she will need to do a good job of harassing Emily Wheaton and try to deny the ball back to her once she gives it up,” he said.
“Kolleen is a winner and she does so many things to help her team. She is an impossible matchup,” Hudson said. “Their other players are really coming through too, and Shawn is an excellent coach who really gets the most out of what he has.”
Other Wednesday games include: Katahdin traveling north to take on Wisdom (girls at 4:30 p.m. and boys at 6 p.m.); Fort Kent boys at Central Aroostook at 7 p.m.
The Hodgdon girls game at Washburn has been postponed due to weather and will be played Thursday, at 5:30 p.m.
The following is a recap of games played Tuesday evening.
GHCA boys 84, Ashland 40 — At Ashland, four Eagles scored in double digits as Greater Houlton Christian Academy soared over Ashland. Austin Winslow scored 19 points and Will Austin chipped in 18, while Cole Winslow added 15 points for the winners and Parker Brewer contributed 12.
Steven Bellanceau paced Ashland with 15 points.
GHCA led 22-7, 41-15 and 58-26 at the quarter breaks.
Fort Fairfield boys 79, Washburn 23 — At Washburn, Fort Fairfield raced out to a 44-10 halftime lead and never looked back, improving its record to 9-2.
Isaac Cyr led the charge with a game-high 22 points while Alex Sprague and Liam McNamee added 13 apiece. Jared Harvey provided 10 points off the bench.
Washburn (0-10) was led by Konner Jordan’s 14 points.
Central Aroostook girls 72, Van Buren 36 — The Panthers doubled up on the visiting Crusaders behind Ashlee Harris, who hit five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 19 points.
Maci Beals and Kassie Levesque scored 11 points each for the winners, who improved to 8-3.
Leah Gendreau’s 15 points led 2-8 Van Buren. Tiffany Morrow added 11.
Katahdin girls 30, Easton 22 — At Easton, the Cougars of Stacyville battled to an eight-point halftime lead and maintained that advantage to pick up the win. Natalie Rickards paced Katahdin with 10 points.
Lydia Ferris led Easton with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
The Cougars led 10-5, 16-8 and 22-17 at the quarter breaks.
Presque Isle hockey 5, Black Hawks 2 — The Wildcats received two goals each from Thomas Patenaude and Colby Carlisle and a single goal from Connor DeMerchant to defeat Houlton/Hodgdon/Southern Aroostook/Katahdin at the Forum.
One of Carlisle’s goals came at the end of the first period when the Blackhawks were on a 5-on-3 power play.
Gavin Vining and A.J. Henderson scored goals for the 2-6 Black Hawks. Elijah Mathewson and Ian Neureuther combined to save 17 of 22 shots in goal for the guests.
The Wildcats improved to 6-2 as Andre Daigle saved 26 of 28 shots for the win in goal.
“We dominated the first two periods but had penalty trouble in the third and had to fend the Black Hawks off,” said PI coach Carl Flynn.
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- Shires Jamie Brown, left, and Teagan Ewings double team Calais’ Lauren Cook, resulting in a turnover Jan. 10 in Houlton. The Shires meet up against Presque Isle Wednesday night in a battle between two of the best girls’ teams in Aroostook County. (Joseph Cyr)
