BANGOR, Maine — The third time did, indeed, prove to be the charm for the Houlton boys basketball team.
After falling in the Eastern Class C championship in 2012 and 2013, the top-seeded Shires finally got over the championship hump Saturday, collecting the regional title with a dominating, 49-33, victory over Lee Academy at the Cross Insurance Center.
Houlton (21-0 overall) now faces Western Maine champ Waynflete of Portland at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Lee Academy finishes its season with a 17-4 record.
“This is awesome,” junior Kyle Bouchard said. “It’s been a long time coming. It feels good, but I am not quite satisfied yet. We’ve got one more. We’re not done yet.”
“This is one of the best feelings I have had in a long time,” added senior Elyjah Crockett as he clutched the regional trophy. “It’s a great feeling, but we still have one more left.”
Against Lee Academy, senior point guard Nick Guiod turned in his finest performance of the postseason thus far with 17 points, while Bouchard chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Lee Academy’s senior big man Cherif Fall (a 6-foot, 6-inch forward) led the Pandas with 12 points, while Frank Tsoungui (a 6-5 senior center) tallied eight points.
The Pandas pressed early, but with little success against Houlton. Lee Academy struggled with multiple traveling calls in the game. Despite having a height advantage against the Shires, the Pandas were also unable to establish any kind of post game against Houlton. The Shires defense also seemed to bother Lee Academy.
The decision to play man defense against the Pandas was not one that coach Rob Moran made lightly.
“I was really pleased with our man-to-man defense tonight,” he said. “I waited until an hour before the game before I decided to stay with that. Man defense is our bread and butter and it worked out.”
Moran praised the defensive efforts of junior Jake Drew and senior Isaac Cone on limiting the Panda’s outside shooters.
“I’d venture to say that they (Lee Academy) have not had guys defend like that on them this year,” Moran said.
Lee Academy scored the game’s first points, but then it was all Shires as Houlton went on a 14-5 scoring run to end the first quarter with a 14-7 lead it would not relinquish. In that run, Guiod converted three driving layups and added a foul shot for Houlton.
Houlton cranked up the defensive intensity in the second period, limiting the Pandas to just four points, to seize a 30-11 halftime lead.
“We wanted to come out in attack mode and really tried to get at them,” Bouchard said.
The third quarter saw Lee Academy make a tough run at the Shires, outscoring Houlton 14-7 for the period. The Pandas cut the lead to 32-23 with 3:59 to play when Devin Peters drilled a 3-pointer. Guiod answered the call on the very next possession with a trey of his own as the Shires regained momentum.
Leading 37-25 to open the final period, the Shires continued their defensive intensity and made most of their free throw attempts — converting six of eight foul shots down the stretch — to ice the victory.
Cone, a 5-9 guard, had one of the most entertaining shots on the night when he found himself in the paint, posting up for a shot against Fall. Despite a seven-inch height difference, Cone showed amazing leaping ability as he successfully drained a jump shot over Fall, bringing the crowd to its feet in the process.
Lee Academy was 13 of 42 (31 percent) from the floor and made four of six foul shots. Houlton was an impressive 17 of 35 (49 percent) from the field and made 14 of 19 foul shots (74 percent).
Beating a Lee Academy squad that defeated Houlton in 2012 in the Eastern Maine title game was rewarding for the Shires, but it wasn’t something that was on the minds of most players.
“Any team that steps in our way, we want to take care of business,” Bouchard said. “Tonight, we took care of business.”
LEE ACADEMY (33)
Thurlow, D. Peters 1 0-0 3, Chen 2 2-3 6, Tung-Fang 1 0-0 2, K. Peters, Wang 1 0-0 2, W. Lola, Fall 5 2-3 12, Mallett, Tsoungui 3 0-0 8. Totals: 13-42 4-6 33. 3-pointers — Tsoungui 2, D. Peters.
HOULTON (49)
Cone 2 0-0 4, Crockett 2 0-0 4, Drew 1 2-3 4, N. Guiod 5 6-7 17, Bouchard 4 5-8 13, Condon, Holmes, Worthley, Crane 3 1-1 7. Totals: 17-35 14-19 49. 3-pointer — Guiod.
Pandas 7 4 14 8 — 33
Shires 14 16 7 12 — 49
