The Houlton Shiretowners are second in Class C Heal Points behind No. 1 Calais, who defeated the Shires, 72-41, in Calais last Friday.
The Shires had topped the Blue Devils at home a week ago, 51-45.
Tonight, the Shiretowners will try to avenge an earlier season loss, as they host Schenck at 7 p.m. at Houlton Alumni Gymnasium. The Wolverines edged the Shires by a point in East Millinocket on Dec. 29.
On Monday, the Shiretowners bounced back with a 78-44 routing of host Fort Kent.
Kyle Bouchard led all scorers with 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Noah Holmes netted 16 points, hauled down seven boards and handed out five assists, while Dan Howe added 11 points for the winners. Christian Crane and Jacob Condon chipped in with eight and six points, respectively.
Fort Kent was paced by Ryan Chasse with 18 points and Brandon Theriault with 14.
The Shiretowners jumped to a 20-8 opening lead and held a 41-23 halftime cushion. After three, Houlton extended its lead to 56-29.
However, in Calais, after a close first half, the Blue Devils controlled the second to take the win.
To start the game, Houlton led 16-15, trailing at halftime, 26-27. But, the third quarter was the game changer, as Calais outscored Houlton, 15-5, just the opposite of what happened in Houlton. The Shires outscored Calais by 10 en route to the home win.
Bouchard led Houlton with 20 points, while Howe connected for six.
Kyle Johnson was the game-high scorer with 24 points, while Matt Perkins tossed in 13 and Andre Paul netted 11.
The Hodgdon Hawks are definitely missing their floor general, Chris Hudson, this season. The No. 11 Hawks (6-6) suffered two losses over the week to Easton (No. 5 in Class D) and Washburn (No. 1 in Class D with an 11-0 record). The Hawks have six remaining games which potentially could move them higher in the standings.
“We are a team that lost its leading scorer, rebounder and floor general through Chris,” said Hawks coach Rob Smith. “We also lost a point guard to graduation in Deyrell Vargas, an all-around hustler, and a shooter and rebounder in Tyler Sherman. Due to an injury, we lost Keegan Gardner for the year. But each year, teams lose guys to graduation, transferring, injury or for other reasons.
“When a new year begins and you have to replace four starters it gives new guys opportunities to take over those roles,” he added. “In my mind, I thought it would happen quicker than it has, but I am learning you can not rush things.”
Smith has seen his team progress through the season and he now feels like they are competing the way he thought they would this year.
“It may not show up in the win column, but we are starting to be competitive with top teams,” he said. “I knew going in it would be a rebuilding year and a year of adjustments, and it has been. We are starting to see players step up into roles that were left vacant from last year.”
Smith is beginning to see growth from his team.
“At the beginning of the season we would get behind and accept the loss, but now when down, this team is continuing to fight and have kept some recent games close,” he said. “They have even won a few games that we were behind in and fought back to win the game.”
Smith has players who are now claiming their roles.
“We now have guys that are starting to be the consistent leading scorer, rebounder and floor general,” he added. “Our team is still a work in progress, but that is how it should be. We should always be learning and working toward improving ourselves as a team and as individuals on the team.”
On Monday in Hodgdon, the Bears took an opening lead of 10-3 and held a 21-11 halftime advantage. The Bears kept the 10-point spread in the third, but the Hawks battled back, falling short, 40-36.
Daden Palmer and Jimmy Buzzell paced Hodgdon’s offense with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Jake Flewelling dropped in 16 points for Easton, 10-2.
Last Friday at home, the Beavers dammed up Hodgdon’s offense, coming away with a 72-54 win. The Beavers built a 17-8 opening lead and pushed the halftime score to 40-15 en route to the win.
Palmer scored a game-high 20 points for Hodgdon, while Buzzell added eight and Devin Quint chipped in with seven.
Cameron Bragg led the Beavers with 18, followed by Jarrett Olson with 15; Noah Farley, 11 and Noah Caron, 10.
The Southern Aroostook Warriors own second place in Class D behind the Beavers in the latest Heal Point standings with a 10-1 record.
Last Saturday in Dyer Brook, the Warriors doused the Woodland Dragons’ flame, 81-36. The Warriors used a balanced scoring attack led by Jackson Mathers’ 22 points; Nolan Altvater’s 16; Cameron Landry’s 12 and Tyler Batchelder’s 11.
William Gibson led Woodland with 12 points.
The Warriors staked a 23-13 first-quarter lead and upped it to 57-16 at intermission en route to the victory.
In Dyer Brook last Thursday, the Warriors raced away from their neighbors, Katahdin, 77-33.
The Warriors used their defensive pressure to ignite their offense, starting the game with a 23-5 lead and they upped it to 46-9 at halftime, cruising to the win.
Mathers led all scorers with 20 points, while Altvater knocked down 17 and Landry added 14 and Batchelder nine more for the Warriors.
Nick Lane had 15 points for Katahdin.
The Cougars lost a close game on Monday to host Penobscot Valley, 54-53.
The game was tied at 10 after the first quarter, but Katahdin took a 34-26 lead into the locker rooms. After three, the Cougars led 48-42. Looking as if Katahdin could hang on for the win, Thomas Spencer of PVHS received a Bryce Carter pass and sank a 10-foot jumper in the lane with 3.9 seconds on the clock to steal the win.
Lane again keyed the Cougars with a game-high 28 points, while Gavin Russell posted 10.
For PVHS, Spencer and Grant Doane were the leading scorers with 16 points apiece.
On Monday, the Wisdom Pioneers routed visiting East Grand, 68-17.
