The Houlton Lady Shires have a week’s layoff before they run onto the Bangor Auditorium hardwood.
The Lady Shires will play Washington Academy in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Maine Tournament at 9:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
“They are a concern for me with their experience that they bring back from last year’s Eastern Maine runner-up team that returns four starters,” said Houlton coach Shawn Graham. “We have a little bit of tourney experience ourselves. Martha and Vanessa will be playing their sixth game on the auditorium floor, so we will look for their leadership on the court as well as helping the younger players in staying focused.”
Graham believes his team and the Raiders are similar in their styles, as they both like an up tempo game, mixing their defenses with full and half-court presses. Offensively, both teams like to run the floor, creating scoring in a transition game.
“We match up very well in terms of size,” said Graham. “They go up to 5-10 and we top out at 5-9. In oorder to be successful, we’ll have to do a number of things well. First and foremost, we need to keep our turnover ratio to a minimum, take care of the ball, not give up two and three shots each trip down the floor and have lots of balance in the scoring department.
“Defensively, we’ll need to be aggressive, but at the same time stay out of foul trouble,” he added. “They have two or three quality shooters that like to shoot the 3 so we’ll have to contain that as well.”
Graham said his squad has been exceeding his expectations all season.
“They work very hard on a consistent basis and I expect they will bring the same intensity come game time,” he said. “The biggest pitfall that we have struggled a bit with is clock management. Knowing when to use the clock to our advantage when we have the lead, taking quality shots at the end of the quarter, and being able to take care of the ball without turnovers at the end of the game.”
Houlton Lady Shires season at a glance
12/4/09 Lee Academy (30) at Houlton (52)
12/8/09 Presque Isle (49) at Houlton (27)
12/14/09 Houlton (55) at Lee Academy(29)
12/17/09 Houlton (70) at Fort Kent .(59)
12/19/09 Houlton (47) at Madawaska (32)
12/28/09 Stearns .(30) at Houlton (42)
12/30/09 Schenck (41) at Houlton (46)
1/4/10 Houlton (39) at Calais(47)
1/6/10 Caribou (27) at Houlton (34)
1/8/10 Madawaska (31) at Houlton (53)
1/13/10 Houlton (37) at Presque Isle (43)
1/15/10 Calais (59) at Houlton (55)
1/18/10 Houlton (29) at Stearns (30)
1/21/10 Houlton (58) at Hodgdon (47)
1/26/10 Fort Kent (43) at Houlton (54)
1/28/10 Houlton (49) at Schenck (35)
2/1/10 Houlton (47) at Caribou (42)
2/5/10 Hodgdon (32) at Houlton (51)
