The Houlton Shiretowners routed visited Madawaska last Saturday, 63-28, but on Friday night, the Shires struggled against visiting Schenck, taking a 44-40 loss.
“Having to play back-to-back games in less than 24 hours is tough,” said Houlton Coach Mike Fogarty. “I don’t care who you are playing, and especially coming off a tough loss.”
Fogarty was pleased with his team’s effort against Madawaska.
“We were able to apply pressure on Madawaska and we scored several points off our defense,” he explained.
The Shiretowners broke the game open in the second period, outscoring the Owls, 12-2, for a 31-12 halftime lead. To open the second half, the Shires went ahead by 49-19.
James Bates led Houlton with 14 points, followed by Parker Brown with 10; Dylan Flewelling and Porter Gervais with seven apiece. Gervais also grabbed seven rebounds.
The Shiretowners’ schedule continues to be challenging, as they will travel to Presque Isle tonight to take on the Wildcats.
“We need to bring the defensive intensity every night,” Fogarty said. “We need to work harder on controlling the boards. We cannot let Presque Isle get second- and third-shot opportunities.”
Offensively, Fogarty wants to see his players get “good looks” and eventually they will start making a few more shots.
The Shires also play host to Lee Academy at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Houlton’s Alumni Gymnasium.
“We aren’t even thinking that far ahead,” Fogarty said.
In their opening game on Friday night, the Shiretowners played a competitive visiting Schenck Wolverine club.
The Wolverines held on for a 44-40 victory.
“Hopefully, it was just first-game jitters,” Fogarty said. “We only shot 34 percent from the floor and 30 percent from inside the arc. We went to the line four times.”
The Shires couldn’t take advantage inside and appeared to be out of synch.
“We had our opportunities,” Fogarty admitted. “Schenck is a very aggressive team, which didn’t help with our shooting percentage.
Josh Beals led Houlton with a dozen points, while Schenck was keyed by Mike Lowell’s 17 and Nate Lewis’ 11 points.
