Lady Shires overpower Lee

Cougars avenge opening season loss, top CAHS Panthers
    The Houlton Lady Shires earned a 56-41 win over visiting Lee Academy on Monday at Alumni Gymnasium.
GOING UP – Katahdin’s Olivia McNally is closely guarded by Vicki McIntyre of Central Aroostook during last Saturday’s game in Stacyville. The Lady Cougars pulled out a 34-31 win.
    The Houlton girls are now 4-2.
    “We really didn’t get going until the second half,” said Houlton coach Shawn Graham.
    The Lady Shires gave up 27 first half points, which Graham said was uncharacteristic of his team. But, the girls regrouped at halftime and held Lee to four third quarter points.
    “We shifted into a 2-3 zone,” Graham said. “We felt that they had a size advantage and were getting too many good looks in the paint. To start the second half, we packed it in a bit and tried to make them beat us from the perimeter.”
    The Lady Shires erased a three-point halftime deficit, 27-24, to outscore Lee 32-14 in the second half. Vanessa Sanderson scored 14 of her 21 points in the final period, while Lainey Herring tossed in 10 points and had 10 steals and Desiree Dow netted 10 more points.
    The Pandas also started Morgan McGraw, who finished with 21 points, but hadn’t played against Houlton in Lee earlier in the season.
    “We really didn’t know anything about her,” Graham said. “She was more of a surprise to us than anything. Our main goal was to contain the Sappier girl, which we did.”
    Sappier had six points on Monday compared to her 18 earlier in the year at Lee.
    The Pandas opened the game in a 2-3 zone, as well, which caused problems for Houlton.
    “It gave us fits,” Graham said. “We had trouble getting the ball inside and we weren’t hitting our jump shots.”
    But, when Lee fell behind by six points, they were forced to come out and match up man-to-man, giving Houlton the opening they needed.
    “When that happened, they had trouble with our quickness,” explained Graham. “Vanessa gave us a huge offensive boost in the fourth. She’s at her best when she takes the ball hard to the basket.”
    Though the Lady Shires finished with the win, Graham said there is more work to be done.
    “We didn’t play our best basketball by any means,” he said. “We hadn’t played a game in 11 days and we certainly showed some rust.”
DEFENSE – In the top photo, Katahdin’s Ethan Qualey, left, has the ball knocked away by CAHS’ Manny Martinez. Both players hustle to get the loose ball during last Saturday’s game in Stacyville. At left, Katahdin’s Brandon Robinson cuts off Brendan York’s path to the basket.
    In other action, the Greater Houlton Christian Academy Lady Eagles picked up a 41-28 victory over visiting Easton at the UM-Presque Isle gymnasium.
    Kasi Parker and Mariah Wiley helped extend the Lady Eagles’ lead in the final period by scoring eight and seven points, respectively. The Lady Eagles led 14-10 at intermission and held a slim 24-20 third-quarter advantage before opening the game up in the fourth.
    Parker finished with 14 points and Wiley tossed in 13 more for the winners.
    In Machias, the Bulldogs overpowered East Grand, 57-42.
    Leading 28-20 at halftime, the Bulldogs outscored the Lady Vikes, 22-13 in the third for a 50-33 lead en route to the win.
    Kelsey Daoust led East Grand with 28 points, while Tisheena Roy added 10.
    On the boy’s side on Monday, the Greater Houlton Christian Academy Eagles fell to visiting Easton, 65-36 at UM-Presque Isle.
    The Bears held a comfortable halftime cushion, 35-14, extending their lead to 47-25 after the third.
    Chad Duff scored 14 points for the Eagles, with Micah Wiley chipping in with eight.
    Last Saturday in Stacyville, the Katahdin boys and girls came away with a sweep of the visiting Central Aroostook Panthers.
    In the boy’s contest, the score was close through the first half of play, with the Panthers holding a one-point edge, 35-34. After an action filled third quarter, the Cougars had regained the lead, 54-52 and in a decisive fourth period, broke the game open with a 26-18 fourth period run.
    Brandon Robinson was a key player for the Cougars, scoring 16 of his total 22 points in the second half. Ethan Qualey dropped in 19, while Lucas Craig tossed in 13 and Evan McCarthy added 10 more for well-balanced scoring. Andrew Hawkins didn’t finish the game with many points, but he had two blocks and was tough on the boards for Katahdin, and Matt McAvoy came off the bench to give the Cougars a boost when they needed it on the boards, as well.
    For the Panthers, Manny Martinez scored 27 points (14 in the second period) and Caleb Kelly finished with 14.
    In the second game of the day, the Katahdin Lady Cougars edged Central Aroostook, 34-31.
    Without the services of the Hartin twins — Brianna and Chelsea — the Lady Panthers were out of synch falling behind 10-2 to start the game. The Lady Cougars’ speed and intensity lifted them to a 21-15 halftime lead, but the Lady Panthers came alive in the second half.
    In the second half, CAHS began to pick away at Katahdin’s lead, trailing only by three to start the final period, 28-25. The action went back and forth in the last quarter, with CAHS having an opportunity to tie the score late in the game. But, the ball wouldn’t fall and Katahdin hung on for the win.
    Olivia McNally led Katahdin’s offense with 13 points, while CAHS’ Vicki McIntyre had a game-high 18 points.
    Before Christmas, the Houlton Shiretowners made their last long road trip to Fort Kent, coming home with a 50-33 win last Tuesday.
    The Shires couldn’t shake Fort Kent in the first half, as Houlton led 22-18. But in the third period, the Shires made a little breathing room, 31-22 and in the last quarter outscored Fort Kent, 19-11 for the win.
    Houlton’s James Bates scored 15 of his total 19 points in the second half. Jordan Bragan added 10 points for the winners.
    The East Grand Vikings trounced host Highview Academy, 82-31 at Eastern Maine Community College. The Vikings went on a 23-6 second-quarter run to break the game wide open, 50-17.
    Kaleb Dicker poured in 37 points, including six 3-pointers. Seth Cropley finished with 14 more.
    In the girl’s game, the Lady Vikings defeated Highview Academy, 35-29.
    The Lady Vikings extended their first-quarter lead to a 22-6 halftime advantage. After three, the Lady Vikes remained in control, 28-19.
    Daoust led East Grand with 13 point and Nikki Tuck added nine.
    At Mars Hill, the Hodgdon Lady Hawks were stopped 45-32 by the host Lady Panthers.
    The Lady Hawks built a 17-12 halftime lead, only to see it dissolve in the third, as Central Aroostook went on a 15-5 scoring run en route to the win.
    Rachael Grew, a freshman for the Lady Panthers, led all scorers with 18 points. Brianna Hartin had 11 more for the winners.
    For Hodgdon, Kate Duff led the way with 14 points.