HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton girls basketball team pushed the visiting Presque Isle Wildcats to the brink Thursday evening and nearly came away with a major upset in overtime.
Libby Moreau, left, of Presque Isle puts up a one-handed shot while guarded by Houlton’s Emma Ardell during Thursday night’s game. Presque Isle beat Houlton 44-42 in overtime. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
But in the end, Presque Isle (10-2) managed to come out with a 44-42 overtime win over the Shires (8-6), in a game that had a distinctive playoff feel to it. Presque Isle was ranked second in Class B North as of Friday morning, while Houlton was fourth.
“I thought Houlton played us extremely tough,” Presque Isle coach Jeff Hudson said. “It certainly felt like we got their best shot tonight, and we were not quite at our best, especially in the first half.”
The Wildcats were particularly flat from the free throw line in Thursday night’s game, completing just 5-of-20 foul shots (20 percent), but they made the one that mattered the most.
With the Shires leading for much of the half, Presque Isle’s Rebecca Rider grabbed an offensive rebound and sank the basket with 23.8 seconds to play in regulation. Rider was fouled on the play and converted the traditional 3-point play, to knot the game at 40-40 in the fourth quarter.
In the extra period, Maggie Castonguay (5 points) scored the only field goal for either team when she snatched a rebound on her own missed free throw to give Presque Isle a 43-40 edge with less than a minute to go.
The Shires, on the other hand, did a lot of its damage from the foul line, converting 7 of 11 free throws (64 percent). Houlton’s Olivia Henderson pulled the Shires back within a point, 43-42, when she sank a pair of foul shots with 47 seconds to play.
But that would be as close as Houlton would get as Presque Isle’s Castonguay made the second of two foul shots in the closing seconds to give the Wildcats the victory.
Lunging for the ball are Presque Isle’s Alana Legassie, left, and Houlton’s Teagan Ewings, right, during Thursday night’s girls basketball game. In the middle is Shire Rebecca Howe. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
Presque Isle’s Faith Sjoberg led all players with 13 points, while Anna Jandreau added nine and Libby Morneau had eight.
Olivia Henderson paced the Shires with 12 points, while Teagan Ewings had 10, Rebecca Howe added seven and Mia Henderson six.
“We showed our youth and we got a little tight,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “What really cost us tonight was not rebounding off their [Presque Isle’s] missed free throws. We kept giving up offensive boards, which gave them another chance.”
