It’s difficult to fathom, but the first month of the high school basketball season is now in the scorebooks and local schoolboy squads are enjoying their fair share of success on the hardwood.
As of Tuesday morning, Houlton, at 4-0, is ranked sixth in Eastern Class C behind Washington Academy (7-1), Central (6-1), Calais (2-0), Piscataquis Community High School (5-1) and Bucksport (3-2).
In Eastern Class D, Southern Aroostook (3-0) is sixth; Hodgdon (4-3) is ninth; Katahdin (3-3) is 11th and East Grand (0-3) is 18th.
The following is a recap of games played through Monday.
Houlton 52, Lee Academy 50 — At Houlton Alumni Gymnasium Friday, Shires faced one of their toughest challenges of the season as the Lee Academy Pandas of Lee came to town. The Pandas held senior Kyle Bouchard to just two points through the first three quarters of play by double, and sometimes triple-teaming defenders on him. Bouchard finished the night with six points, including a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds to play to preserve Houlton’s unbeaten record.
The Shires have now won 25 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Senior Dan Howe led Houlton with 13 points (including three 3-pointers), while seniors Jake Drew and Christian Crane each added 10 and Noah Holmes chipped in eight.
For Lee Academy, Nathanael Thurlow scored a game-high 16 points (including four 3-pointers), while Charles Tung-Fang added 13.
Houlton led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter and took a 31-18 lead into the locker room at the half. Lee Academy chipped away at the lead and cut it to 44-35 after three stanzas.
The Shires faced another stiff challenge Tuesday evening as the talented Caribou Vikings were scheduled to come to town.
Houlton 84, Stearns 43 — At Houlton Dec. 16, Bouchard poured in 37 points, hauled down 19 rebounds and handed out five assists. Howe tossed in 14 points and Drew added nine more for the winners.
For the Minutemen, Marc Morneault scored 11 points and JW Briggs chipped in 10.
Houlton led from the onset, on top 15-6, 40-16 and 64-30 at the quarter breaks.
Hodgdon 45, Easton 72 — At Easton Dec. 17, the host Bears used a 20-2 opening scoring run to take a 23-6 first-quarter lead it would never relinquish. The Bears led 40-17 at halftime and 62-27 after three quarters.
Easton was led by Logan Halvorson with a game-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Jake Flewelling netted 15 points for the Bears (3-1).
For Hodgdon, Devin Quint scored 12 points.
Hodgdon 68, East Grand 33 — At Danforth Friday, Daden Palmer tallied 14 points to lead the Hawks to victory. Devin Quint and Devin Ramsey both chipped in 10 points.
For East Grand, Philip Farley led the way with 12 points.
Hodgdon led 19-2, 31-13 and 54-19 at the quarter breaks.
Hodgdon 74, Limestone-MSSM 18 — At Limestone Monday, Quint scored a game-high 15 points to power Hodgdon past the Eagles. Jimmy Buzzell added 11, while Ramsey and Jordyn Merritt both had seven.
For the Eagles, Matt Pelkey scored six points.
Hodgdon led 18-4, 40-10 and 60-14 at the quarter breaks.
Southern Aroostook 58, Van Buren 42 — At Van Buren Saturday, Nolan Altvater tossed in 15 points, while Jackson Mathers added 14 and Cameron Landry chipped in with 11 for the winners.
For Van Buren, Justin Sytulek had a game-high 17 points for the Crusaders, including four 3-pointers, while teammate Andre Rossignol netted 16.
SACS led 17-6, 36-18 and 44-33 at the quarter breaks.
Southern Aroostook 63, Fort Fairfield 59 — At Dyer Brook Monday, the Warriors improved to 3-0 on the season. Individual game results were not available by presstime.
Katahdin 75, Central Aroostook 60 — At Stacyville Friday, Nick Lane led the Cougars with 21 points, while Tyson Porter chipped in 20 and Brody Guiggey and Gavin Russell both had 10.
For CAHS, Dustin Pryor netted 21 points and Clark Bradbury added 15.
Katahdin led 15-14, 38-27 and 56-44 at the quarter breaks.
