Staff Writer
The Houlton Lady Shires are sitting in top position in Eastern Maine Class C and will await the winner of Fort Kent/Piscataquis for their quarterfinal matchup at 11:05 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at the Bangor Auditorium.
The Lady Shires finished the season with a 43-31 win over host Caribou last Tuesday behind Rachel Foster’s 15 points and Desiree Dow’s 10.
Houlton held a slim 15-14 halftime lead, but outscored Caribou, 15-4 in the third for breathing room, building a 30-18 advantage en route to the win.
Houlton coach Shawn Graham doesn’t know much about Piscataquis, but Fort Kent is an old nemesis. Last year, they knocked Houlton out of the tournament in the quarterfinal round, which very well could be a rematch this season.
“If Piscataquis wins, it’s a blessing for us,” said Graham.
Fort Kent is a team that Graham wouldn’t have chosen for his first matchup.
“They are no secret,” he said. “There is not a lot of size. More than likely, we will see a box-and-one defense on Rachel [Foster] as we have seen for eight straight games dating back to the 2004-05 season.”
Fort Kent operates off their guard play found in Marissa Albert, Emily Pelletier and Taylor Boucher.
“Last year I said, and I’ll say it again, they have arguably the best three guard combination in Class C. This is not your typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup,” Graham explained.
Fort Kent’s schedule has been challenging the last couple of years, according to Graham, and they went into the tournament a year ago number six and upset the Lady Shires, who were seeded third.
“They have made the tournament the last three years and have been to the semifinal round two years in a row,” Graham said.
The Lady Shires played them twice on the season and came away with a 54-49 win at Fort Kent on Dec. 20 and a 51-39 win at home on Jan. 29. The home game was one point after three quarters.
However, Houlton would like to avenge their early exit from last year’s tournament.
“I do feel that our team is highly motivated after what happened a year ago,” Graham said. “Not only do we have the size advantage, but I also feel that we are quicker, as well. We will look to push the ball up the floor for 32 minutes, while mixing in some full-and half-court traps. We are not going to be content to get in a half-court game with them.”
In the two teams last meeting, Graham noticed that Fort Kent wearied after the third period.
“So we decided to press in the fourth quarter and went on a 20-9 run to end the game,” he said. “We held their shooters to one 3-point field goal. We will need that same effort defensively if we are to move on.”
