By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
Houlton girls’ coach Shawn Graham drew up a new gameplan for his Lady Shires going into last Tuesday night’s Class C quarterfinal game against no. 1 Calais.
TWO POINTS – Houlton’s Vanessa Sanderson lays the ball up over Calais’ Courtney Hill for two points during last Tuesday’s Class C quarterfinal game at the Bangor Auditorium. Sanderson was selected as Honorable Mention for the All-Tournament Team in Class C.
“I couldn’t have been more pleased with our effort,” said Graham.
In the teams’ two meetings on the season, the Blue Devils defeated Houlton by 22 points in early January and by 25 points later in the month. The marked difference in the games were Calais’ size, physical play and bench depth.
“After two tough losses during the regular season, I thought the kids really responded,” Graham said.
But in the quarterfinal, Houlton spread the floor and played deliberate offense, however defensively, the Lady Shires couldn’t offset the size of Calais post players, as the Blue Devils scored 16 of their 45 points on the offensive glass.
“When there is that much size differential, it’s tough to prevent,” Graham said. “That was the difference in the game. We felt we had a very good gameplan coming in and I thought the kids did a nice job executing it against an excellent Calais team.”
Graham said if his team could hold opponents to under 45 points, they were able to win, but over 40 points, the team hadn’t won.
“We put ourselves in a situation to win and that’s all I could have asked for,” he added. “It was just a matter of not being able to catch a break late in the game.”
The gauge didn’t’ lie … Calais overtook Houlton late in the ballgame, 45-39.
“Defensively, we changed our gameplan to a more three-point defense,” Graham explained. “We were sagging and cheating inside the three-point line with our 1-3-1, while doubling on the ball side post and shutting off any diagonal passes to the weak side.”
The Lady Shires’ goal was to have Calais beat them from the perimeter, according to Graham.
“In the first two meetings, we ran more of an uptempo game, with full- and half-court pressure, but we got beat down low for too many easy baskets on the low block,” Graham explained. “Offensively, we slowed things down a bit and were much more patient and looked for higher quality shots.”
The Lady Shires had a quickness advantage with Vanessa Sanderson and Desiree Dow on the perimeter against the bigger Calais defenders.
“We ran a lot of high screen and rolls to the basket once we drew the defenders out,” Graham said. “I thought it worked pretty well overall.”
The Lady Shires’ Sanderson came on strong on the offensive isolation, giving Houlton a brief lead in the fourth quarter. With 1:48 left, Sanderson hit a jumper to draw Houlton to within a basket, 41-39, but Calais’ Shannon Brown answered with a jumper and then the Blue Devils grabbed three rebounds off missed free throws in the waning seconds to keep possession and pick up the win.
The Blue Devils built an early 10-2 lead behind Nicole Osborne, but Dow and Sanderson chiseled away at the lead. Dow brought Houlton to within two, 12-10 with 1:46 left in the first quarter, but Calais’ Brown converted a three-point play to end the period, 15-10.
The Blue Devils used their interior height to extend their lead in the second to as much as seven points behind offensive rebounds and a 3-pointer by Courtney Hill with 48 seconds to intermission lifted the Blue Devils to a comfortable 28-16 halftime advantage.
However, the Lady Shires stayed with their deliberate offense and forged an 8-0 scoring run to open the third behind the perimeter shooting of Courtney Putnam and Sanderson. Putnam opened the period with a 3-pointer, followed by five Sanderson points, including another 3-pointer with 4:54 left in the quarter to tie the game, 26-all.
Houlton drew to within a basket again, 30-28, on a Putnam set shot with 3:43 to go in the quarter, as neither team scored from that point on until Houlton took their first lead of the game, 31-30 just into the fourth on a driving three-point play by Sanderson.
It was short-lived, as Calais’ Kelli Cross hit two free throws and Hill stole the ball and drove to the hoop to give the Blue Devils a 34-31 advantage. Calais’ Osborne hit the next five points to push the Blue Devils lead to 39-33.
Sanderson finished the game with 24 points, including all of Houlton’s 11 points in the final quarter. Dow scored eight points and Putnam five.
“Overall, the girls had a successful season,” Graham said. “Our goal to start the season was getting back to Bangor to play on the Auditorium floor and compete for a championship. That goal was achieved. Unfortunately, we caught a bit of a bad draw in the first round, but none the less, they proved hey could play with the best in Class C.”
DRIVES – Houlton’s Desiree Dow drives the ball to the hoop during last Tuesday’s Class C quarterfinal game at the Bangor Auditorium against top-ranked Calais. The Lady Shires lost, 45-39.