EAST MILLINOCKET – After 10 days without a game, it was anyone’s guess how Houlton would handle fourth-seeded Schenck, particularly considering the Shiretowners needed two overtimes in their own gym to knock off the Wolverines last month.

Tied at 39 entering the fourth quarter, the Shiretowners’ scoring dam burst as they washed away the Wolverines’ hopes in a 19-6 flood to sweep the series 58-45 in schoolgirl basketball action Monday night.

“They scared me all game, that’s a good team,” Houlton coach Jerry Tweedie said. “Any time you can come down here and get a win, I consider myself real lucky.”

Luck will go a long way in most games, but it was the Shiretowners’ pesky defense which held the Schenck tide to three field goals in the fourth quarter.

“We started running that fourth quarter when it was about even,” Tweedie said. “We got some breaks and the kids got some rebounds and took the ball down the floor.

“We do a lot of running and we hope it pays off in the fourth period and maybe that helped us tonight,” he said.

Trapped by a physical man-to-man defense, Schenck couldn’t seem to find a safe passing lane as the Shiretowners collected 14 steals, including four each from Erin Upton and Stephanie McCarthy, as the Wolverines racked up 22 turnovers.

“This is the best game we’ve played,” said McCarthy, who led Houlton with 16 points. “We’ve had a 10-day break and we weren’t expecting to play this well, but I guess it helped us.”

New plays opened up the offensive paint for Houlton, which came up with 13 field goals of its from the red area.

The Wolverines didn’t go down easily however, spending the majority of the game coming back from deficits.

Leading by one at the half, the Wolverines put together a 8-2 sprint on a three-point play and field goal from Holly Rosebush, who finished with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds.

The run put Schenck up 36-32 with 5:01 remaining in the third, but the Shiretowners came back with their own 8-2 run to close the quarter at 39-all.

Schenck battled early against Houlton’s tenacious, physical, man-to-man defense and its own bad passes, which gave the hosts an 11-4 turnover lead by the end of the first half.

The Shiretowners took the first-quarter lead on a pair of free throws and a field goal from McCarthy and never relinquished it in the opening quarter, holding on for a 15-13 lead.

The Wolverines’ jitters continued to plague them through the second quarter as Houlton piled up a 6-0 run in the first 2:29 on two paint baskets by McCarthy, who finished the half with 11 points.

A Schenck timeout turned the Wolverines’ fortunes as Erin Chavarie came up with four of her seven points in the quarter on a 9-0 run which stalled with 36 second left, but sailed Schenck to a 28-27 halftime lead.

Shiretowners 58, Wolverines 45

Houlton (9-3) Schenck (9-4)

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Upton 4 9 2 5 12 Morin 1 8 1 2 3

McCarthy 6 11 3 4 16 Gardner 1 3 0 0 2

McNutt 1 3 2 5 4 Boone 1 6 0 0 2

Wilde 3 8 2 2 8 Chavarie 6 12 0 0 13

Cowprthwite 0 1 0 0 0 Greenleaf 0 1 0 0 0

Bell 3 11 2 5 8 Rosebush 6 17 1 4 16

Thomas 4 13 2 4 10 Madore 0 1 1 2 1

Franck 0 3 0 0 0

York 4 10 0 3 8

Totals 21 56 13 25 58 Totals 19 61 3 11 45

Houlton 15 27 39 58

Schenck 13 28 39 45

3-pt. goals: Houlton (3-5): Upton 2-2, McCarthy 1-1, Wilde 0-2; Schenck (4-14): Morin 0-1, Boone 0-2, Chavarie 1-4, Rosebush 3-7

Preliminary: Houlton JVs 43, Schenck 42