The Houlton High School girls and boys bypassed the playoffs and are heading straight into the Class C quarterfinal round at the Bangor Cross Insurance Center.
The No. 2 Houlton girls are scheduled to meet the winner of No. 7 Central of East Corinth/No. 10 Sumner on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 11:05 a.m.
“I haven’t seen Sumner all season, but I have watched Central a couple of times,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “Central is a very solid opponent.”
Hedging on the Heal Points to stay true, Graham breaks down the higher seeded Central Red Devils.
“They are big with two girls over 6-0 in their lineup,” he explained. “Bre Skolfield is their 6-1 center, who is a 1,000-point scorer and was a starter for Central in 2012 when they won the Class C state championship over Stearns. She is my biggest concern, as she is very physical and strong and shoots well from the perimeter.”
“Libby Cook is another six-footer, who is extremely active and looks for a lot of offensive rebounds and put backs,” he added. “Sydney Allen is their freshman point guard who does a nice job of pushing the ball up the court, running the offense and attacking the basket.”
They are a dangerous first-round opponent, Graham noted, with wins over Dexter, Orono and a one-point loss to Piscataquis, the number three seed.
As far as what the Lady Shires need to be doing, Graham said, “We will need to rebound the ball much better than we have all year. That has been one of our weaknesses and is a concern with (Central’s) size and athleticism.”
The Lady Shires will also need to avoid foul trouble, which has become an issue late in the season.
“If we can stay out of foul trouble and do a nice job boxing out, I like our chances,” said Graham. “But, those are two major keys for us.”
If by chance Sumner pulls off an upset, Graham will also have his troops ready.
“Overall, I think we have the advantage in overall quickness and scoring ability,” said Graham, no matter which opponent they face. “We will look to run the floor as much as possible. I think the bigger floor at the Cross Center is also in our favor.”
The Lady Shires finished the season with three wins against Calais, Lee Academy and Caribou.
In Calais last Thursday, the Houlton girls turned a five-point first-quarter lead into a nine-point halftime advantage to take a 61-47 win.
Kolleen Bouchard poured in 25 points for Houlton, while Natalie Hill posted 12 points and Katie Condon 10 more.
Maddy McVicar was the game high-scorer with 29 points.
At the quarter breaks Houlton led: 15-10; 32-23; and 46-38.
Last Wednesday in Houlton, the girls came away with a 57-19 victory over Lee Academy.
Bouchard tossed in 14 points, while Hill added 13 points and Rylee Warman chipped in with 12 more.
Mona Roemer had 15 points for the Panda girls.
In last Tuesday’s night game in Caribou, the Lady Shires overpowered their host, 63-33, behind five players in double-digits. Hill had 13; Condon, 12; Bouchard and Warman, each 11 and Aspen Flewelling dropped in 10 more for the winners.
Madison Doucette had 13 for Caribou.
Houlton led at all quarter breaks: 20-5; 35-9; and 49-18.
No. 3 Shiretowners take on winner of No. 6 Washington Academy/No. 11 Dexter
The Houlton Shiretowners may very well take on a very familiar opponent in Washington Academy if the Heal Point standings stay true with the higher-seed moving forward.
The Shiretowners will play Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 9:35 a.m.
The Shiretowners finished the season last Friday with a 64-57 win over Washington Academy in East Machias.
Kyle Bouchard poured in 30 points and brought down 13 rebounds, while Noah Holmes scored 12 points; and Jacob Drew and Christian Crane each added 10.
Gage Feeney led Washington Academy with 19 points.
The Shiretowners grabbed a 17-9 opening lead and held a 33-23 cushion at halftime. In the third, the Raiders battled back to within three points, 47-44, but the Shiretowners were able to hold off any late rally.
“I am happy with where we finished this year,” said Houlton coach Rob Moran. “Class C is deep this year and there are no easy games for anyone.”
Though the Shiretowners have beaten Washington Academy twice, it is no shoo-in.
“They are a really good team,” said Moran. “They have a lot of good shooters. If we end up with them, it is going to be a tough game. In both of our games with them, it was a one-point game in the fourth quarter.”
As far as looking at Dexter, Moran said they are “very well coached and a very disciplined team.”
At this point in the season, Moran believes his squad is playing well.
“We are 10-1 in our last 11 games,” he said. “I am pretty happy with that. We finished the year against two really good opponents, with great road wins against Caribou and Washington Academy.”
Moran says nothing is guaranteed when stepping onto the floor in Bangor.
“We need to put games together,” he said. “You cannot play poorly down there and we need contributions from everyone. We also need to be solid defensively, which has been better as of late.”
The Shiretowners head to tournament with a healthy squad. Moran also feels many teams take it for granted when they head straight into the tourney bypassing preliminaries.
“We’ve been pretty successful,” he said of attaining a high enough seed. “A lot of time the higher seed in a playoff game loses. It happens plenty of times. So, I would rather not have to play a preliminary game.”
Despite having time to prepare, according to Moran, the Shiretowners are going to have to play well.
“We have to be focused and we need to practice with a sense of urgency,” he added. “We have 10 days off to get better. We will watch tape of ourselves and break down what we can do better and see where we end up.”
The Shiretowners have made the EM finals for the last three years.
Last Tuesday, the Shiretowners outscored the Vikings, 19-10, in the final quarter to pick up a 51-39 win over host Caribou.
Bouchard scored a game-high 20 points and Crane netted 18 more. Drew finished with nine points.
Ricky Sheldon dropped in 12 points for Caribou.
The Shiretowners led 13-10 to start the game, but trailed at halftime 19-17. The third quarter was the difference, as the Houlton boys went ahead 32-29 en route to the win.
