Hawks soar!

Hodgdon overpowers Katahdin; Cougars without point guard Livezey
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    There were two types of emotions displayed during last Friday night’s game in Hodgdon.
    “I was impressed with the size of the crowd on our opening night,” said Hodgdon coach Robbie  Smith. “Some were there for basketball and some to honor a fallen soldier. It was a great crowd with a lot of emotion.” 
    The opening home game was Aaron Henderson Night. There were tears, gratitude and applause of recognition for a soldier who gave his life fighting for his country. Henderson played sports at Hodgdon (see accompanying story) and his uniform jersey No. 33 was retired.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
FINGER ROLL — Hodgdon’s Chris Hudson, No. 20, goes in against Katahdin’s TJ Young to lay the ball off the glass for two points during last Friday’s opening game in  Hodgdon. Katahdin’s Colton Bivighouse watches the action. Hodgdon won 69-39.
    The second set of emotions were what players experience starting any new season.
    “In the beginning of the game we came out with some nerves and jitters, but that is expected in the first game,” said Smith.
    It may have taken the Hawks a bit of time to unload, but when they did, they rolled to a 69-39 win over visiting Katahdin.
    “Wyatt [Morse] came down and hit two big shots on us early,” explained Smith. “We did not fight through the screen and our big guy did not hedge very well on the first two shots. This gave Wyatt some clear looks at the basket.” 
    Hodgdon senior Devon Logie connected for the Hawks’ first two baskets of the game. Defensively when the Hawks  “made adjustments on screens,” said Smith, “we started to contain Wyatt better.”
    The Hawks led by one, 8-7, to close the opening period.
    However, in the second quarter, the Hawks outscored the struggling Cougars [who are without the services of senior point guard Bill Livezey, who was injured in a preseason game] 17-4 to spread the scoring margin at halftime, 25-11.
    “We forced some turnovers and started to cut to the basket,” explained Smith.
    After the third, the Hawks still remained in control, 41-24.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
SPARK PLUG — Katahdin’s Wyatt Morse heads to the hoop against Hodgdon’s Nick Lunn during last Friday’s opening game. Morse proved to be a spark plug early on in the game for Katahdin, which just couldn’t stay with the Hawks.
    “Our shots in the first half were not dropping and we started to attack the basket,” said Smith of his team’s opening-game effort. “In the second half, I think we started to settle in and made some outside shots that we were missing earlier,” Smith added. “Some foul trouble caused Katahdin to go deeper in to their bench which allowed us to take advantage of some mismatches with our guards.”
    Chris Hudson of Hodgdon (three 3-pointers) led four Hodgdon players in double figures with 18, while brother Josh Hudson scored 15; Tyler Sherman, 13; and Devon Logie, 10.
    “As for our boys, I was very proud of them and how they played,” said Smith. “We crashed the boards well and defensively created some turnovers. We still need to work on conditioning and there is always room to improve the small things that help you win ball games.”
    For Katahdin, Morse also finished with a game-high 18 points, nine points on 3-point shooting; along with Colton Bivighouse’s 11.
    “Katahdin will be a tough team as the year progresses,” added Smith. “They were without their point guard and a major scorer in Billy Livezey. Give this team some time to adapt to their circumstances and Coach Urquhart will have them back on top of their game.”
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
GRABS THE BALL — Hodgdon’s Devon Logie, No. 00, grabs a rebound against Katahdin’s Everett Bivighouse.