Hodgdon-SACS girls’ mettle tested

By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    It was a close game last Saturday in Dyer Brook, as Southern Aroostook battled the pressure of visiting Hodgdon.
    The Lady Hawks pulled out a 52-45 win.
    The Lady Warriors fell behind Hodgdon, 18-6, to start the game, as they were bothered by the Lady Hawks’ defensive pressure.
    “We are having problems against any pressure defense,” said SACS coach Harris Tucker. “We’ve got to get over that.”
    Harris said his crew has the first-quarter “blues.”
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
STRIPPED — Hodgdon’s Jennah Steamer strips the ball from SACS’ Sable Altvater with deny defense in last Saturday’s game in Dyer Brook.
    “We always struggle in the first quarter and after that, we come to life a little bit,” he said.
    Once the Lady Warriors settle down and attack the defense, they seem to play evenly with their opponents.
    Southern Aroostook cut into the lead, taking a brief one-point advantage, 21-20, with 34 seconds to halftime. But, Hodgdon’s Jennah Steamer would get the last shot off to give Hodgdon back the lead, 22-21 at intermission.
    To start the second half, the Lady Warriors settled down and handled the pressure and moved the ball better to outscore Hodgdon, 15-4, behind Kristen Tarr’s five points and Sable Altvater’s four.
    The teams played evenly throughout the third period, as Hodgdon stayed in the lead, 37-34. In the final eight minutes, the score was tied at 43-all with 3:39 left. The Lady Hawks outscored Southern Aroostook, 9-2, to finish the game.
    Hodgdon coach Vaughn Farrar noted it was a character-building outing for his squad and hopefully, they have enough points to reach the playoffs.
    “We learned to stay focused on the task at hand and didn’t play scared at the end, as we have done previously in close games,” he said. “We had good energy and enthusiasm. I’m pretty proud of them. We just have to play hard from here out and wait and see.”
    Haley Gardiner played an outstanding game, scoring a game-high 20 points, with 14 coming in the second half of action. Steamer scored eight of her 12 points in the first half.
    For Southern Aroostook, Jess Tucker netted 13 points, eight in the second half, along with Olivia Raymond’s 10. Altvater finished with eight points for SACS.
    “Our shots are falling for us,” said Tucker. “But, any pressure and we seem to panic and turn the ball over. We need to focus on handling pressure defense better, while getting the ball up [the court] and taking better care of it.”
    The Lady Warriors finish the season with five games starting with Limestone/MSSM today at 6:30 p.m. in Limestone, then on the road to East Grand Friday and at Washburn on Monday. Closing out their season, Southern Aroostook has at game at Katahdin Feb. 6 and their last home game Feb. 8 to Limestone/MSSM.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
EFFORT — Southern Aroostook’s Kristen Tarr, No. 12, and Hodgdon’s Karissa Harris go after a loose ball during last Saturday’s game in Dyer Brook.
    “We need to take both Limestone games,” explained Tucker. “Hopefully, we get a playoff game so we can turn things around and at least get a chance to go to Bangor.”
    The Hodgdon Lady Hawks have three games left on their schedule as they will face Van Buren and Houlton at home on Thursday and Monday, respectively. Their last game is at home to Greater Houlton Christian Academy on Feb. 9.
    In other action, the Lady Warriors toppled visiting GHCA, 63-20, last Thursday in Dyer Brook.
    At the end of one, SACS led 14-6 and held GHCA scoreless in the second for a halftime cushion of 43-6 en route to the win.
    Tucker and Altvater each posted 16 points, while Mataya Hartin added 11 more in the win.
    For GHCA, Colby Walker finished with six points, while Olivia Lord and Kayla Neureuther each scored five points.
    Last Tuesday, the visiting Fort Fairfield girls overtook Hodgdon, 54-49, behind Amanda Hotham’s 22 points.
    Hodgdon’s Mariah Wiley connected for 17 points, while Lacey McQuarrie added 14, Steamer scored 11 and Gardiner chipped in with five more.