Houlton girls win first two games: Shires struggling early

Gloria Austin, Special to The County
14 years ago

The Houlton girls team is finding more early success, as they defeated Madawaska, 54-30 last Saturday  at home, and Fort Kent, 48-34 in their home opener last Thursday.
“Overall, I’ve been very pleased with our start,” said Houlton coach Shawn Graham. “Offensively, we’ve had very good balance in our scoring, which has made us a little tougher for opponents to defend. We don’t have any particular player who we need to get 20 points per night from, but at the same time, with our up-tempo style of play, the bench has gotten some quality minutes, as well.”
    Against Madawaska, the Lady Shires jumped to a 17-6 opening-quarter lead and never looked back, holding a 32-13 halftime lead. After three, Houlton built a 43-23 advantage.
Marina Cameron fired in a game-high 22 points, while Taylor Bailey and Tori Hanson each had six points and Samantha Keegan added five. Bre Longstaff and Amanda Fogarty both had four points and rounding out the scoring were Makala Folsom with three; and Alaina Pratt and Katie Cone, with two apiece.        In their home opener against Fort Kent, Fogarty led Houlton with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Keegan posted 10, while Hanson and Cameron each had seven and Bailey, six. Rounding out the scoring were Cone with four; Folsom, two and Ashley Drew a point.
After leading 12-9, Houlton pushed their lead at halftime to 24-18. After three quarters, the Lady Shires led 34-20.
In the junior varsity game, Houlton won, 41-16.
Despite two wins under their belts, Graham knows the schedule gets stronger.
“There is plenty to work on,” he said.
The girls will play Stearns in Millinocket tonight. Graham looks for the Minutemen to be in the top five teams in Class C this season.
“We’ll have a good idea after that game as to how we stack up with the top teams within our class,” Graham said.
The Houlton Shiretowners dropped their third game of the season on Monday at home to the Fort Kent Warriors, 58-29.
The 3-0 Warriors led 16-9 to start the game and extended their lead to 31-14 at halftime. By the end of the third, Fort Kent was ahead, 41-22.
Nick Guiod led Houlton with 11 points, while Dan Swallow had seven points; Elyjah Crockett netted six points; Doug Dickison and Cody Woods each scored two points and Gaige Flewelling rounded out the scoring.
It wasn’t pretty. But, the Shiretowners opened their season last Wednesday at home against a very talented Presque Isle Wildcat squad.
The Shires were defeated, 70-21. Houlton was 6-of-24 from the paint.
“The boys realize that we are getting decent looks,” said Houlton coach Mike Fogarty. “We just need to knock more of them down. The boys understand that they need to be a bit stronger when they take the ball to the hoop. If we are aggressive, chances are we will get fouled and then get the opportunity to go the foul line.”
Throughout the evening, Fogarty was looking for the right balance in players.
“We are still playing around with combinations to find the right mix,” he said. “We are only two games into the season, so it’s still early.”
The Shiretowners fell behind 12-3 to start the game and trailed 36-9 by halftime. In the third, the Wildcats pushed their lead to 55-15.
“As the game was slipping away, we tried to stay focused on one possession at a time,” Fogarty said. “We wanted to continue to work on some of our basic offensive sets and execute.”
Micah Goetsch and Hunter Hanning each had four points for Houlton. Dickison knocked down three points, while Crockett, Guiod, Ethan Quint, Swallow and Zach Harvey all had baskets.
“Presque Isle is definitely one of the strongest teams on our schedule,” Fogarty said. “They are one of the better teams in Class B. They are very talented and deep.”