Caribou boys also fall at Old Town, now 2-3
CARIBOU, Maine — The imposing front line of the Houlton Shiretowners caused problems last Wednesday night for the Caribou Vikings.
The Shires, pairing 6-6 junior Cameron Cleary with 6-3 sophomore Nick Brewer and 6-1 senior Jacob Worthley in the starting frontcourt and rotating in two 6-3 players off the bench, were too much for an inexperienced Caribou team with nobody in the starting five over six feet.
The result was a 36-30 victory in the Class B North matchup, giving Tim Brewer, who had spent 15 years coaching Central Aroostook, the first coaching win with his new team after opening with two losses.
“They are stronger than we are and bigger,” said Caribou coach Chris Casavant. “This was our first game going against a 6-6 player that when you penetrate in is swatting shots away.”
Cleary had three blocked shots and was an intimidating force throughout as the Vikes went the entire game with just four field goals inside the three-point line.
Houlton never trailed after senior Cameron Graham (game-high 14 points) scored on a putback to make it 9-8 with 5:35 to play in the second quarter. However, the pesky and deliberate Vikings were able to make a couple strong runs throughout the game to keep it close.
Trailing 19-10 early in the third, a 3-pointer and a floater in the paint by Caribou freshman Parker Deprey and a pull-up jumper from the foul line by Alex Bouchard, another freshman, tied the game at 19. Graham and Nolan Porter hit field goals for the Shires in the final 40 seconds of the quarter before Bouchard rattled in a 3-pointer just inside halfcourt at the buzzer to make it a one-point game.
The Shires’ man-to-man defense, effective throughout, took it to another level in the final period. Houlton held Caribou without a field goal until Bouchard hit another 3 with just seven seconds to play, but that only cut the deficit from nine to the final margin of six.
“We knew what they were going to run, but we just had to play our defense,” said Worthley, who finished with seven points. “We got in their faces, talked and switched on screens and played as a team.”
Caribou did not receive a field goal from anyone other than Bouchard (13 points) and Deprey (12), with sophomore Tharen Hand’s five second-half free throws representing the team’s only other points.
“We did some things well defensively, but offensively, we played like three freshmen and two sophomores [the makeup of the starting lineup],” Casavant said. “We knew there would be some growing pains and this was one of those games.”
The Vikes were back on the road Friday and lost to Old Town, 39-29. Caribou was ahead by four at the quarter break and trailed by just one at halftime, but were outscored 20-11 in the second half to come up short. Deprey had 13 points, while Austin Findlen and Bouchard added seven each for the Vikings, who are now 2-3 on the season.
