HODGDON, Maine — In recent years, whenever the Houlton and Hodgdon boys basketball squads meet on the hardwood, an entertaining, hard-fought game follows.
Such was the case Wednesday evening as the Shires traveled to Hodgdon for the first time this year in a battle of two unbeaten teams. Houlton got off to a hot start and held off a surge from the Hawks to remain perfect on the season with a 67-53 victory.
Houlton (4-0) was led by Nick Guiod’s 23 points, which included a 9-for-12 showing from the free throw line. Kyle Bouchard chipped in 19 points and Elyjah Crockett added 14 points and hauled in 15 rebounds for the Shires.
For Hodgdon (4-1), Chris Hudson netted 17 points, while Tyler Sherman added 12 and Keegan Gardner chipped in 10.
Houlton versus Hodgdon is one of the more storied rivalries in local high school basketball. And the games typically tend to live up to the hype surrounding them. With limited seating inside the Hawks’ gymnasium, and the school sticking with its policy of “first-come, first-served” when it comes to seating, basketball fans began lining up outside the school at 4 p.m. for the 7 p.m. contest.
Unlike last year though, when the school actually had to turn people away after reaching capacity at 5 p.m., the doors remained open Wednesday. Those that made the trip were treated to a thrilling contest between two teams destined to make strong playoff pushes this year. More than 400 viewers tuned in to watch the game online through WHOU-FM’s video broadcast.
The playoff atmosphere of the game was a good experience for the Hawks to learn from, according to Hodgdon coach Rob Smith.
“Two of the starters have never played in a Houlton-Hodgdon game,” he said. “It is an intense and physical game. The crowd is large and in to the game from the tip.”
The physicality of the game, as one would expect, resulted in a number of fouls being called. Houlton converted 15 of 22 foul shots (68 percent), while Hodgdon made 16 of 26 free throws (61 percent).
The Shires opened the game with an impressive 11-0 run and all signs appeared to be pointing to a Houlton rout. But, the Hawks climbed back into the game and trailed 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
“We got off to a good start and got some easy baskets in transition and played pretty good man (defense),” Houlton coach Rob Moran said. “But after that, we struggled shooting the ball. We did not shoot well at all with a lot of open looks that we didn’t make.”
“After digging ourselves an 11-point hole, we finally settled down and started to hit shots that were not falling earlier in the first quarter,” Smith said. “We started in man and switched to a 2-3 zone and it closed up the lanes in the second quarter.
The Shires used their size advantage on a number of occasions, putting Crane, Crockett and Bouchard on the floor at the same time. That lineup gave coach Moran three players standing at least 6-feet, 4-inches, which Hodgdon could not match up against.
A strong second quarter, in which Hodgdon outscored the Shires 17-11, cut the deficit to 28-26 going into the halftime break.
“On offense in the second quarter, we took advantage of some early foul trouble on Houlton and were able to attack the lane with good results,” Smith said. “At halftime we tried to adjust the over dribbling on the perimeter. We would dribble, but not drive and when we did drive we forced bad shots and were not looking to dish the ball to the open man. We came out in the second half and passed around the perimeter and looked to force the ball inside.”
The Hawks managed to take the lead a couple of times in the third quarter, but the Shires finished out the frame on top by five (48-43).
In the fourth period, the Shires slowly pulled away from Hodgdon.
“We could not find that last run to bring the game close again,” Smith said. “Houlton continued to crash the boards on offense and get second chance points. Their size was a factor on the boards, but we also have to work harder to box out and keep them off of the boards. When you get behind late on Houlton they do a good job at running a delay game while still looking to score. We could not foul the right person to foul and stop the clock to get the ball back.”
Both coaches said the game showed them areas they needed to address for the remainder of the season.
“This game showed me that we need to be more patient on offense,” Moran said.
“Overall I was impressed with my kids’ determination to not stop playing,” Smith added. “Getting down 11 early can end a night for most teams, but we battled back. Each game against Houlton there is always runs by both teams and this time Houlton had the last big run and it led to the win.”
HOULTON (67)
Cone 2 0-0 5, Crockett 6 2-4 14, Graham, Bouchard 6 4-6 19, Drew, Guiod 6 9-12 23, Condon, Worthley, Crane 3 0-0 6. Totals: 23 15-22 67. 3-pointers — Bouchard 3, Guiod 2, Cone.
HODGDON (53)
Gardner 2 6-8 10, Vargas 2 3-5 7, Hudson 5 7-13 17, Woods, Quint 1 0-0 3, Sherman 5 0-0 12, McAfee 2 0-0 4. Totals: 17 16-26 53. 3-pointers — Sherman 2, Quint.
Shires 17 11 20 19 — 67
Hawks 9 17 17 10 — 53