Special to the Pioneer Times
Wednesday was Senior Night at Houlton High School where the 9-8 Houlton Shires would take on the 15-2 Caribou Vikings. Houlton starting seniors Josh Beals, Parker Brown, Ben Austin, Ryan Hill and Abe Carmichael in their last performance at Alumni Gymnasium went into the game hoping to come away with a large sum of Heal points and an extra boost of confidence going into the postseason. However, the game would not end in Houlton’s favor, and Caribou senior Kyle Corrigan would prove to be too much for the Shires to handle. Corrigan’s 27 points helped the Vikings manufacture a 55-43 victory.
Houlton opened up the scoring, but would see Caribou jump to an early 10-4 lead. Houlton’s Beals helped the Shire’s cause with back-to-back buckets that would bring them back to within two points. Despite Houlton’s lackadaisical offense and the offensive foul trend that was so evident in the first quarter, they were able to keep the score close as the first quarter ended 16-15, in favor of Caribou.
In the second quarter, Houlton showed flashes of brilliance as they continued to feed the ball down low, and produce a steady number of free-throw attempts.
“The reverse was open all night,” said Houlton coach Mike Fogarty after the game. “It’s just a matter of whether or not we can continue to get the ball down low to Beals, or whoever it may be.”
Houlton seemed to handle Caribou’s fullcourt pressure well in the second quarter, and would take advantage of the spread defense with a strong inside presence. Houlton took their first lead at 24-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half. Caribou wouldn’t stay down long however, as Corrigan hit a buzzer beating shot off the glass and tied the game up at 27-all.
Caribou opened the second half on an 8-2 scoring run that would see their lead climb to 35-29. Caribou’s outside shooting and Houlton’s struggle with turnovers left the Shires in their biggest hole of the night, as the third quarter ended with a 13-2 run and an 11-point Caribou lead that had mounted to 40-29.
The fourth quarter saw short bursts of life from Houlton, but it turned out to be too late. Corrigan continued to knock down shots as Houlton watched him tally 17 of his 27 points in the second half. The Shires chopped the lead down to seven points with four minutes left. Despite Houlton’s ability to get to the foul line and pull down offensive rebounds, they were unable to take care of the ball throughout the fourth quarter. These costly turnovers would cause Houlton to let the game slip away as it ended with a score of 55-43.
“We didn’t capitalize,” said Fogarty. “Now all we can do is regroup, work on the fundamentals, and get healthy.”
A couple of Shires have been battling the flu, while another has a badly sprained ankle.
Beals was Houlton’s high-point man with 21 points, while Ryan Hill chipped in with seven. Corrigan led the Vikings with 27 points, and Jarryd Rossignol and Caleb Rosser helped out with 13 apiece.
