HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton boys basketball team has grown steadily under the tutelage of veteran coach Tim Brewer.
Now in his third year with the Houlton program, and 18th season coaching overall after also spending 15 years with the Central Aroostook boys team, Brewer has high hopes for this year’s Houlton squad.
“We have eight returning players, which is nice, and all eight will factor into the rotation,” coach Brewer said. “We will look to build our team around those guys that started for us last year. We have high expectations for sure.”
Last season, the Shires finished 14-4 in the regular season, but only ranked ninth in the Class C North standings. That meant Houlton had to play on the road in a preliminary playoff, where the Shires beat No. 8 Lee Academy, 51-36, to advance to Bangor for the first time in many years. In the quarterfinals, Houlton gave No. 1 seed George Stevens Academy a run for its money, but ultimately fell, 55-43. GSA went on to win the state championship for the third straight year.
That postseason experience should prove beneficial for the returning players this year.
“We would love to make it a little deeper into the tournament this year and I think we have the kids to make that happen,” Brewer said.
Members of the Houlton boys roster for 2018-19 are seniors Nick Brewer, Ben Grant and Nolan Porter; juniors Keegan Gentle, Cameron Callnan and Jaron Gentle; sophomores Drew Foley and Hunter Sennett; and freshmen Collin Moody and Caleb Solomon. The Gentles are cousins. Brewer is not related to coach Brewer.
Porter, Brewer, Keegan Gentle and Jaron Gentle all saw considerable time on the court last season, while Foley, Callnan, Grant and Sennett were also in the mix.
“Potential is a big word for us this year,” the coach said. “We have good team quickness, which will help. I actually think we will be a lot quicker than we were last year. We’ll look to push the ball and we will probably press a lot more than we did last year. I really want to push the pace this year.”
The Shires lost four players to graduation, including starters Cameron Cleary and Nick Perfitt, along with Jeremy Cook and Devin Ivey. Replacing the output from Cleary (a 6-foot, 8-inch center) and Perfitt will be tall orders for the Shires this season.
Rebounding may be a weakness too, at least early on, as the Shires do not have a lot of height compared to previous years, the coach said.
“I honestly think we will be one of the better teams in Class C this year,” the coach said. “I thought we were last year too, but had a tough draw facing GSA in Bangor.”
GSA, Mattanawcook, Bucksport, Fort Kent and Lee Academy are among the top teams in the Class C region this season, the coach said. Assisting Brewer with the team is Travis Gentle.
