The two-time defending state champion Shiretowners (5-0) emerged from a series of three straight lead changes early in the third quarter with 18 unanswered points to build a commanding 50-33 advantage less than two minutes into the final period.
“The biggest thing we talked about was settling down and relaxing,” said Houlton coach Shawn Graham. “We were tense, we were tight, mentally we didn’t appear to be in the game, so we talked at halftime about having a third quarter because maybe the team that had that run could close it out, and that run set us up for the fourth quarter.”
Kolleen Bouchard paced Houlton with game-high totals of 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to go with three blocked shots.
The junior guard scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter with a left-wing jumper, a 3-pointer and a feed to reserve sparkplug Kristen Brewer for a layup at the outset of the period helping the Shiretowners cap off their decisive run and build their largest lead.
Senior guard Rylee Warman added 12 points for Houlton, and junior forward Aspen Flewelling had 10 points and six rebounds.
Foxcroft (5-3) was paced by its college-sized front line of 6-foot-1 center Abigail Simpson and 5-10 forwards Grace Bickford and Makenzie Beaudry, who combined for 38 points and 22 rebounds.
Bickford finished with 16 points and six rebounds, Beaudry had 14 points and nine rebounds while guarding Bouchard, and Simpson added eight points and seven rebounds.
“At halftime the score in the paint was 23-8 them, and we talked about the 2-3 zone and why they got 23 points in the paint against a packed-in zone,” said Graham. “We took a look at what they were running for offense and tried to jam their cutters a little bit and made sure we did a better job of boxing out.”
Two free throws by Abbi Bourget early in the third quarter gave Foxcroft a 31-29 lead, its first advantage since 2-0. Warman countered with a 3-pointer and the Ponies then went scoreless for the next 6 minutes as Houlton took charge.
