PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — It was a battle between two of the best girls teams in Class B North that wasn’t decided until less than a second to play.
The two-time defending state champion Houlton Shiretowners squandered a 15-point lead but recovered and made some big plays down the stretch. Kolleen Bouchard’s two free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining gave Houlton a 59-57 victory over Presque Isle Dec. 13.
Presque Isle battled back after being way behind to grab its first lead 25 seconds into the fourth quarter on a foul-line jumper by junior guard Emily Wheaton, who finished with a game-high 25 points.
The final eight minutes featured four lead changes and two ties, but PI held a 54-51 advantage with a little over three minutes left. Then Houlton stormed back.
Kristen Brewer hit a foul-line jumper and Rylee Warman connected from the outside on the next possession to put the Shires back on top by a point. Wheaton connected on a 3 with 1:50 to go to tie the game at 57, but Houlton ended up with the final possession.
Bouchard popped open at the foul line and drove toward the basket. She missed her first attempt but chased down the offensive rebound and drew a foul. Following a Wildcat timeout, she stepped to the line after having missed her four previous attempts and calmly sank both. PI couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
“It was a game of runs,” said Houlton coach Shawn Graham. “We’d go on one and then they’d go on one, but I was very proud how my team handled adversity each time Presque Isle would take the lead.
“And you don’t want anyone else but Kolleen on the line in that situation,” he added.
Bouchard finished with 19 points and Aspen Flewelling nailed four 3’s and added 16. Rylee Warman was also in double figures with 10 points.
Emily Lagerstrom hit her final five 3-point attempts and finished with 15 points for PI. Skylar Vogel added 10 for the Wildcats.
Both teams shot well from the perimeter as PI was 10-for-19 shooting 3’s and Houlton was 7-for-15, with all the makes coming in the first half.
“They way I look at it is that you had two great teams going at it and we were hitting 3’s in the first half and they have two of the best in the game in Lagerstrom and Wheaton and they were hitting them in the second half,” Graham said.
PI trailed 18-4 late in the first quarter but fought back to within eight at the half and put together a big third quarter set up the great finish.
“I was really proud of our kids,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson. “We were getting annihilated in the first quarter but we showed a lot of heart and chipped away. In the second half, we hung with them and we knew it was going to be a close game until the end.”
